Two Weeks after returning home…. Reckoning
Well; friends, family and interested parties, our trip of a lifetime is over and we have settled down to our life on terra firma. A lot of people asked before we left for the 104 day cruise, how would we manage such a long time on board a ship, the answer had always been, "what, we are going a on cruise around the world; manage you ask?", now after returning and experiencing the whole adventure, "are you crazy, what is wrong with YOU!". If not for our lovely family and friends, and of course, our depleted bank balance, we would definitely be still sailing…..but I would also like all our wonderful shipboard friends to still be on board the ship as well.
We had the inevitable ups and downs…..? (like that pun?), such as the ship's 4th engine out of service till after ½ way through our voyage and missing the port of Amsterdam due to strong winds on the day of docking. Our life has been enriched with special relationships and experiences. During the past 104 days our life had been anything but ordinary and I doubt we will be able to repeat this again. Our trip has unquestionably lived up to our expectations and more.
We were asked what had been our best port visited. Unfortunately I haven't been able to point to any one in particular as every port, city, country and region all had something special and unique in comparison. Our cruise gave us a sample of most things we don't see, smell, taste and feel at home.
Just to mention a few of the sights we saw, are the structures mentioned in the annuals of history. The lost city of Petra, Egyptian Pyramids and Sphinx, Queen of Sheba's castle ruins, Suez Canal, Jerusalem, Blue Mosque, Acropolis in Athens, Pompeii, Roman Colosseum and Forum, the Vatican City,Leaning Tower of Pisa, Eiffel Tower, Buckingham Palace, Edinburgh Castle, Panama Canal, and the Step Pyramids in Mexico.
The churches, mosques and temples we visited were all special and appreciated. There are always some which leave a lasting impression on us. I would like to mention a few which had different impacts. The first one I will mention is the Jain Temple in Mumbai. A tropical down pour of rain occurred whilst we were there which made our visit almost surreal. The light from the lit candles danced across the statue and white marble walls whilst we heard the devotees chanting their mantra as the rain drummed outside. Upstairs the glare from the fluorescent lights highlighted the ornate and colourful sculptures and paintings on the ceilings and walls. We found this gorgeous and fascinating temple welcoming and serene.
Secondly, our next religious site had impacted my sight-seeing tour unexpectedly. We were both aware of the religious importance of our walk through Jerusalem, seeing the various quarters of this historic and holy place but were both unprepared to walk into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and actually walk up the stairway to Golgotha and see the large crucifixion alter, a silver disk with a central hole, marks the spot on the rock where the cross stood. Pilgrims were kneeing and kissing the disk. We were in the Holiest Christian Site in the world! The site is venerated to be where Jesus was crucified and buried, an important destination for Christian Pilgrimage and we were completely unprepared to experience the gamut of emotions we felt. That morning when we set out in the bus to tour Jerusalem and swim in the Dead Sea, we were still overwhelmed with our visit to Cairo and the Pyramids the day before.
We saw and touched the Stone of Anointing, walked around and entered the Aedicule, a large boxy shrine in the domed round area of the church. The dome is decorated with a 12 point star which symbolizes the outreach of the 12 apostles. To top off our religious experience we stood by the Wailing Wall and I prayed alongside many others in another holy place, this time for the Jewish Pilgrims.
The 3rd religious site to impact my senses was the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. We couldn't help but marvel at its grandeur as we walked through the gate in the outer wall and looked ahead to the ablutions fountain. Above its domed roof, rose another dome, flanked by a walkway with dome roofs, then an ascent of domes and semi-domes rose heavenward until the great dome is seen to dominate over all. The splendid architecture boasts 6 minarets as most Islamic Mosques have 4 or less. Inside blue tiles, mostly in the upper levels of the area give cause to the mosques' name. Thick rich carpet gives relief to the worshippers' as they kneel to pray. Many stained glass windows, as well as hundreds of lights hanging from metal hoops, a smaller one inside the larger, lit the prayer area.
The 4th religious site would be St Peters Basilica in the Vatican City. It is not a cathedral as it is not a seat of a bishop; however it is the Pope's principal church and just happens to have the largest interior of any Christian Church in the world and is considered to be the holiest Catholic site. When we walked into this stupendously large building, we had just visited the almost darkened and quiet Sistine Chapel so although people were talking in hushed tones, it still seemed loud. The day had been hot outside but in the dark cool interior of the chapel, we felt a comfortable temperature. A large barrel-vaulted ceiling decorated with gold biblical designs, leads to the central dome over which the main alter stands. Coming through the windows in the dome were streams of light which beamed onto the main alter which gave the appearance of hallowing. The inside is lavishly decorated in overwhelming artistic styles. Marble, stucco, gilding and many statues line the walls and ceilings. The place is in itself a work of art. Huge…we look at a monument on the other side of the main chapel and think it is about our head height but when we get close, the monument dwarfs us by its size. It is all very overwhelming and certainly a show case.
Sagrada Familia Basilica in Barcelona is my 5th choice. I would say it is the strangest looking, serious building in the world and impossible to find another church like it. Antoni Gaudi designed the ambitious construction with a rich variety of Christian Symbols and Scenes and although it commenced in 1882, it is still unfinished, and expected to be completed around 2050. Private donations of 20million euro a year keep the building work going.
I liken the façade and bell towers which reach toward the heavens, to the form made by scooping up a handful of water and sand and allowing it to dribble from your hand to make a tower. I used to sit on the water's edge at the beach and do the very same thing. It has been referred to one of the most hideous buildings in the world and it is no wonder religious objections have risen over its design. Though once inside I felt comfortable and I suppose more serene than I did in the St Peters Basilica. It is light, airy and welcoming inside. Like an Ugly Duckling maturing to a swan, it is a remarkable church and I am pleased to have seen it.
I must give an honourable mention to St Colman Cathedral in Cobh, Ireland. It was the only one we actually went to Mass in and Paul, especially, felt a connection to. We are assuming his forebears on his mothers' Irish side would have attended Mass there just as we did before sailing from Ireland. The building dominates the whole town of Cobh and as the ship sailed out from the harbour it was the last building we could see.
We were privileged to meet some lovely shipboard passengers and share several of our holiday experiences with them. They were classy yet down to earth, friendly and fun loving. The impact of their friendships made our cruise more special and enjoyable. It is sad our cruise had to come to an end, as it was not the conclusion of the sailing which we had and will miss, but the camaraderie and closeness of our fellow passengers that will never be repeated, ever again. That special bond will always be there, however as time and distance is our enemy, I hope somewhere, somehow, we will reconnect. A big thankyou to all the friends, cruise critic friends in particular, who we shared 'our trip of a lifetime' with. A special mention to our four dinner companions who made our dining experience from the time we left Sydney to the conclusion of our cruise, a nightly familial experience, sharing our thoughts and adventures of the previous days.
We tried many culinary flavours from the diverse tastes around the world. Starting in the Humpty Doo Hotel in Northern Territory, a Singaporean lunch at the Marina Bay Hotel in Singapore, two different curry smorgasbords in India, a yummy Arabian spiced meal in Dubai, an Arabian smorgasbord in Jordon, which overlooked the bare hills of Petra whilst a call to prayer sounded. We then had another smorgasbord in a restaurant on the banks of the Nile River in Cairo, lunch at the Dead Sea, Turkish coffee in Istanbul and Greek Coffee in Mykonos, an array of Greek food in the Plaka before pastas, pizzas and other Italian plates in Italy. Fish and Chips in London, a black beans and rice based meal in Costa Rica and Niguaraga, corn chips, frittatas and salsa in Mexico, then a meal of shrimps in Bubba Gump's' Honolulu. Paul and I took a Travelan tablet most times just before eating these meals, so I am pleased to report we did not suffer from any "Bali Belly" type reactions, but I must also report that all our other dinner companions who did not take any precaution, were not ill either! We certainly tasted a wide assortment of flavours and cuisines.
I am sure the staff of all of the Princess ships are trained to offer the best service possible to all the passengers and I feel as a consequence of this, a lot of their passengers are repeat cruisers. We were fortunate to have some lovely waiters to look after us. Geoffrey and Joffrey worked tirelessly to make sure our dinners arrive in front of us with little fuss. I ordered caffeine-free coffee once, so every night a cup and saucer would arrive at the conclusion of my meal, to be filled with hot caffeine free coffee. I never had to ask again. Geoffrey remembered our names from the first night we arrived at our dining table, and every night thereafter, he endeavoured to greet us personally. He was Pilipino and the three ladies on our table happened to have similar names. Lesley, Lyn and Linda. He did a wonderful job remembering all the Ls. Terry said the only person who called him Terrence was his mother but now, Geoffrey happens to be the other. Some nights if all the passengers decided to dine, the whole section would have both the waiters fussing over us, running back and forth to the gallery to collect food, rivulets of sweat running down both Geoffrey and Joffreys' faces as they worked to make our dining experience enjoyable.
Our cabin steward, Pol did a great job looking after our cabin whilst we were on the ship. He was always polite and eager to help us with any requests. Pol would try to assess when we would be leaving the cabin so he could clean it whilst we were out. In the end we would let him know how long we intended to be away. "We are having a walk this morning and will be out of the cabin for an hour", or "We are going up to breakfast and should be out for the rest of the morning", or "Good afternoon Pol, we are out of the cabin for the rest of the afternoon".
Always ask for anything you may require, if it is not possible to fulfil your request, the crew will let you know, but generally, if the request is reasonable, it would be achieved. I would like to mention the fact we flew Qantas to and from Sydney, this just happened to be the airline we had tickets issued for, and as a result we were able to arrange with the information desk to pre order an extra piece of luggage each, for our return flight with the payment added to our stateroom account. We were not informed by Princess or the staff at the information desk about this arrangement; it took another passenger informing me of this option. I had known already about Qantas allowing passengers an extra piece of luggage, weighing no more than 23 kilos, for $20 each if we pre booked and paid on the internet 7 days prior to flying and no less than 3 hours before the flight leaving. The thing is we did not have a booking reference number on our 'Princess Ticket' as they were group booking tickets. This is where the staff notified the main office for Princess to arrange the excess luggage for us. At no time had any passenger received information regarding the choice in taking up this offer. There were many passengers who were struggling with additional luggage. Qantas charge $10 a kilo, Virgin charge $15 a kilo for extra weight over the 23 kilos allowance. We had four suitcases weighing 92 kilos, the first two were included with our normal tickets, the other two cost us $40. If we hadn't been aware of this offer by Qantas, we would have paid $460 for excess luggage! Another option taken up by a few Virgin passengers was 'Pack and Send' where a person came to the wharf, weighed the excess luggage to send it via road transport at $2.25 kilo, or there 'bouts, depending on where the final destination happens to be. Sydney to Adelaide cost $2.25 kilo and arrived on the doorstep on the following Monday. Another passenger changed her flight with Virgin Economy to Premium Economy, paying the extra $100 odd dollars for the upgrade and receiving 69 kilos in luggage allowance…….!
Would we cruise again? Would we go on another world cruise? Heck yes, but not straight away.
