I've divided our 5-week trip into three phases: Part 1:  Iceland and the Azamara Journey cruise to watch the Total Solar Eclipse. Part 2:  Our stops in Montreal and Vancouver. Part 3:  Silverseas Silver Whisper cruise from Vancouver to Honolulu. But before I finish with Part 3, some news of the day. The war between the U.S. and Iran: The estimate, which covers the war’s direct costs through Aug. 1, is in line with the Pentagon’s most recent public accounting from July, when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Congress that the war had cost $37.5 billion. A later report from the Defense Department's inspector general determined that the conflict cost an estimated $33.4 billion between February 28 and June 30.   But the new CBO analysis finds that the price of the war is continuing to rise, estimating that the government will spend another $2 billion to $3 billion each month the conflict continues. It also notes that the war has significantly depleted U.S. munition...

I was born on 6September1940.  Am now on the Silversea Silver Whisper, heading towards three Pacific Ocean hurricanes.  Met the captain of this ship last night, Julien Albiel to my right (your left) and hotel director Valentin Trif. He was pleased to hear that we both thought the Silver Whisper was the best cruise ship we have ever been on, all things considered.  Even better that the Ritz-Carlton Luminara.  Here I am with Captain Tom Roth of that luxury yacht.   Read the story of how he personally helped me on Day One of our cruise from Singapore less than a year ago So back to the Silver Whisper, spent some time talking to Captain Albiei, mostly about those three hurricanes.  Twelve hours later, or this morning, the situation has further improved regarding our safety.   Hurricane Karina is now a tropical storm at 60 MPH and continuing to mover westward, sufficiently north of the Hawaiian Islands. Will become a post-tropical gale as she head...