CRUISING, Part 2: HONOLULU TO EUROPE AND BACK

To catch a Christmas European River cruise in 2024, I made two itineraries involving cruises, sailing east from Honolulu to Europe and west from Europe back to Honolulu.

Unfortunately, couldn't find a cruise to the West Coast from Honolulu. Something to do with the Jones Act. Possible to sail to Vancouver, but no options coming or going during these two itineraries for the Fall and Winter of 2024. Also, no cruises from the West Coast of North America to Honolulu during this period. Well, there is one loophole that comes at the end of this posting.

So we start with a flight from Honolulu, and the only cruise heading south, then east, was on the Holland America, from Vancouver to Fort Lauderdale on the Nieuw Amsterdam. Thus, beginning in September of 2024.

Fly from Honolulu to Vancouver on September 26. Stay a couple of days at the Marriott Pinnacle Downtown.
Board the Nieuw Amsterdam on September 29 for a 21-day cruise.
Verandah cabins start at $5509/person with beverage package and WiFi.
Stops in San Francisco, San Diego, various Latin American ports, through the Panama Canal and eventually to Fort Lauderdale on October 20.
Spend two nights at JW Marriott Marquis in Miami.
Fly to Memphis on October 23.

Board the America Cruise Lines American Symphony on October 25 for a 9-day cruise.
Arrive New Orleans on November 2.
Spend three nights at the Saint Hotel in New Orleans.
Fly to Miami on November 6 and stay at the JW Marriott Marquis.

Board the MSC Magnifica on November 8 for a 23-day cruise to Genoa, Italy.
Spend a few days sailing in the Caribbean, then to Madeira, Lisbon, etc., Barcelona, Civiravecchia (Rome), arriving in Genoa on December 1.
There is a large number of Christmas river cruises, but the following is one example.
Fly to Amsterdam on December 1 and stay at the Amsterdam Marriott hotel.
Board the Viking Tir on a 15-day river cruise to Budapest. A veranda room is available for $7,200/person.
Arrive Budapest on December 19.
Fly from Budapest to Hamburg on December 19. Stay at Hamburg Marriott Hotel.

There aren't too many westward bound transatlantic cruises. The following seems possible on Cunard's Queen Anne, which just began sailing in May of this year.

Has 15 restaurants for 3000 passengers.
Board the Cunard Queen Anne on in Hamburg on December 20, 2024 for an 18-day to the Canary Islands, and back to Hamburg on January 7, 2025. Balcony $8195 ($455/day)/person.

Queen Anne will begin its Maiden World Voyage, taking 111-nights from Hamburg on January 7, 2025. balcony room costs $28,169 ($254/day)/person.

Continue on the Cunard Queen Anne from January 7, 2025 in Hamburg for a 26-day cruise to San Francisco, arriving on February 4, 2025. Current balcony room for $6000 ($231/day)/person.
That above leg seems bookable today.
However, the ship then sails to Honolulu, arriving on February 9, 2025. Perhaps this will be allowed. Got to look into it.

If not, then stay at the San Francisco Airport Marriott Waterfront and fly from San Francisco to Honolulu on February 7, 2025. Then again, why not take that World Voyage, which ends in Hamburg on April 29, 2025? But then, we'll need to fly back to Honolulu from Hamburg. So many options. Cost for them? Today, the above remains a fantasy. Why spoil those dreams today?

Tomorrow, details on our global journey in the coming spring. A lot of flying, plus three cruises. This one is real. Cost? Return for details.

HONOLULU TO SEATTLE

The story of the day is Hurricane Milton, now a Category 4 at 145 MPH, with a track that has moved further south and the eye projected to make landfall just south of Sarasota. Good news for Tampa, which is 73 miles north. Milton will crash into Florida as a Category 4, and is huge, so a lot of problems can still be expected in Tampa Bay with storm surge. If the eye had crossed into the state just north of Tampa, the damage would have been catastrophic. Milton is a fast-moving storm, currently at 17 MPH, so as bad as the rainfall will be over Florida, again, a blessing. The eye will make landfall around 10PM EDT today, and will move into the Atlantic Ocean north of Palm Bay Thursday morning. My first trip to Seattle was in June of 1962 just after I graduated from Stanford University. Caught a bus. Was called the Century 21 Exposition . Also the Seattle World's Fair. 10 million joined me on a six-month run. My first. These a...

OSAKA EXPO: Day One

Well, the day finally came for us to go to the Osaka Expo. We were told ahead of time that the long walks would be fearful, giant lines will need to be tolerated just to get into the Expo, with those ocean breezes, it would really be cold, and so forth. Maybe it was pure luck, but we avoided all the above warnings We had a grand day, and are looking forward to Sunday, our second day at the Expo. So come along for an enjoyable ride. Our hotel is adjacent to the Tennoji Station, a very large one with several lines. We upgraded our Suica card and caught the Misosuji red line towards Umeda. Transferred to the Chuo green line at the Hommachi Station. This Osaka Metro train took us to the Yumeshima Station at the Expo site. It was a very large mob leaving the train and heading to the entrance. Took only a few minutes to get to the entrance. This mob was multiplied by at least a factor of ten of those already waiting to enter. However...

WHY YOU SHOULD CONVERT TO A JAPANESE HIGH TECH TOILET

Did you know that Oktoberfest in Germany is mostly in September? The very first day of Oktoberfest 2021 was supposed to be today, September 18, extending into October 3. Well, as in 2020, Oktoberfest was cancelled. So why is it called by that month when it is held mostly in September? The first celebration in 1810 was in October. Did you also know that Oktoberfest is held only in Munich? These days seven million drink more than a liter ( about three typical cans ) of beer each, costing around $11. Except for my wife and I when we followed the crowd to board the S-Bahn to the fairgrounds near Old Town. It was drizzling a bit. We bought a large pretzel outside of a typical barn where beer is served. We did not know that you needed to get this inside the hall. So no one came to serve us beer. After a while we decided to have lunch, and the restaurant we settled on only served wine. Thus, we might have been the ...

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