On this segment we are fortunate to have on board some incredible guest lecturers. Regent in conjunction with NPR and PBS has quite a few well-known news journalists on board. The intent is for them to have a lecture and then to meet with us in smaller group settings and have open discussions. We have already had two sessions with Charlie Cook who is one of the most respected political analysts in Washington.

We are off to pirate alley. However, guess what? We are having mechanical problems. One of the generators is not working so we cannot go as fast as we need to. They hope to fix it in Jordan but the necessary part has to be flown in from Germany.

written by  rcodel on May 7, 2011 from Salalah, Oman
from the travel blog: World Cruise - 2011
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Dad finally got his dhow ride which he has been wanting for years. Oman is very mountainous but nothing grows on the mountains. However, where they irrigate there are beautiful flowers and grass growing.

Grand Isle marina in Oman

Dhow ride

Welcome back to Dubai, a city we enjoy. It is still growing fast. Since a few years ago many of the Tower cranes are gone and the buildings are completed. However, many of them appear quite empty.

On our first day we visited the neighboring smaller emirate of Sharjah. On our drive we saw that one city merges into another without really crossing a boarder. Many Dubai workers live in Sharjah since the cost of housing is much lower.

On our second day we went to old Dubai known as Dubai Creek and visited the gold souk where Dad wanted to buy some gold but Mom refused.

Tallest building in the world

Abra (water taxi) ride

The holy Koran

Taj Mahal Hotel

Gateway to India

We are off to another culture.

written by  rcodel on April 28, 2011 from Mumbai, India
from the travel blog: World Cruise - 2011
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Welcome to Cochin

We hired a tuk tuk to take us around to all of the interesting sights of Cochin. We saw how the Chinese fishnets operate. These nets were evidently designed by the Chinese over 1,000 years ago and are still being used. They are manually lowered into the water from land and, after waiting for about 15 minutes, they are raised and voila, there may be some fish. Really quite primitive, but they work. You can buy the fresh fish right by the net.

Chinese fish nets

As we drove around we noticed that there were goats roaming around freely everywhere. Miraculously, when it is time for them to be fed, they return to their home.

Goats roaming everywhere

We also visited a typical hand laundry. Very primitive.

Hand laundry

Tuk-tuk with driver

written by  rcodel on April 25, 2011 from Cochin, India
from the travel blog: World Cruise - 2011
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Easter flowers

Happy Easter to all. Since we were not able to stay in Galle, we proceeded on to Colombo where we arrived an evening early during a monsoon thunderstorm with thunder and lightning. Colombo is the largest city in Sri Lanka and is quite nice. It has been ruled by Portuguese, Dutch, British, etc., but is now independent although the influnce of these other cultures is still evident.

Golden Buddha

Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon, has been in a civil war for decades and apparently there was a cease fire just last year. Trincomalee is basically a small village but the Sri Lanka countryside looks beautiful. It is known for growing spices like cinammon, rice and all kinds of Ceylon teas.

Our cruise ship was the first one to visit this port in over 30 years so we had a very warm welcome.

written by  rcodel on April 22, 2011 from Trincomalee, Sri Lanka
from the travel blog: World Cruise - 2011
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India's infrastructure is so backwards when you compare it to China that we have no idea how it will ever become a developed country due to the growing, uneducated population.

If you remember, our last world cruise in 2009 was aborted because we ran into fishnets off Malaysia, which damaged one of the propellar pods to the extent that it was inoperable and our cruise was aborted. Believe it or not, we have been dragging a fishnet that we ran into off Malaysia. We could see it from a low deck. In Madras Regent hired a "professional" diving team to untangle the fishnet from under the ship. Mission accomplished, thank heavens, with no known mechanical damage.

Guys in white are ship's officers