When the  Diamond Princess  captured the attention of the world in February of 2020 with a floating epidemic of a new virus, later called COVID-19, the cruise industry almost went bankrupt.  3711 on board, 712 infected and 14 deaths.   19% were infected, and the mortality rate was 2%. The  current world condition  is that 7.7% have been infected, with a mortality rate of 1%.  Of course, there are so many asymptomatic cases that the 7.7% could well be as high as 15% or more.  Everyone on the Diamond Princess was tested, so the 19% infection rate was probably accurate. Following that incident, into March of 2020, the Grand Princess and Ruby Princess also were hit with outbreaks, resulting in a total of 1564 cases and 21 deaths.   For a one year period from March 15, 2020 to March 15 2021 3519 passengers and crew got infected and 73 died. In 2020 and 2021 cruise lines lost a collective  $63 billion . Passengers and crew are still getting infected in 2022, but only a very deaths are occurr

I was reading the March issue of Travel Leisure , and saw two items of interest:  a different sort of tour through the island of Oahu and an announcement of Oceania Insignia's 218-day circumnavigation, hitting 44 countries and territories in 109 port stops.  You have time to save some money for this trip, as it leaves Miami on 28 December 2022, starting at $55,400/person.  At $254/day, a good price for that ship. So that inspired me to dream about an absolutely fantastic back to back global adventure.  We're presently pondering over a possible Fall 2021 journey that includes a 16-day Celebrity cruise from Tokyo to Singapore, using the Star Alliance Around the World ticket for the rest of the way.  The primary reason is to participate in the Dubai World Expo, scheduled to run from 1 October 2021 to the end of March 2022.  The more sensible and safer option is to take the Island Princess from Los Angeles to Dubai on a 52-day cruise on 19 January 2022, then select ideal stops goin