Lahaina Town, Maui

 

See How Brazilians Live

 

If things had gone as planned with the 3-year cruise I signed up for in March 2023 (didn’t happen), I would be in Belem, Brazil right now. Belem is the capital and largest city in the state of Para, in the north of Brazil. Another hot day in the tropics, 90 degrees, 73% humidity, but as with the last few cities on our itinerary, thunder and lightning happened before our arrival date, and will happen after. Love having good weather luck. It’s important to take the right kind of clothing when traveling to the tropics, CLICK HERE (ad). 

Belem is the educational and cultural center of the north. Since these are my two favorite things, I’m sure to enjoy visiting. It has a very modern appearance and is not a typical tourist destination. The sights I would visit here are those enjoyed by the inhabitants. This would give me insight into the way Brazilians live today. However, it’s not a safe place to wander around by yourself. I would probably plan my day with another passenger or two, and just visit these places during daylight hours.

My first visit would be near the port, Guajara Bay, and the riverfront district of Cidade Velha, with is the old town. I usually prefer seeing old towns, probably because there aren’t any left where I grew up in SoCal. This area has Portuguese-colonial architecture and colorful azulejo-tile houses. There’s also a fort here, named Forte do Presepio. In addition to enjoying the architecture, one of my favorite things to do in new places, I’d stroll through the Ver-o-Peso, open-air market. If I wanted to buy handicrafts, this would be the place to do so.

There are several museums, cathedrals and cultural centers in Belem. If time permits, it would be easy to visit several. If, however, the outdoors is your preference, there are just as many parks and botanical gardens. Remember, this isn't the safest place to wander around alone. Life Lesson: Participating in a guided excursion might be best. I would wait to visit such places while in a safer (and cooler) environment. 

For more information about the customs of Brazil, CLICK HERE (ad).

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Giverny, France

 

Standing in Two Hemispheres

If things had gone as planned with the 3-year cruise I signed up for in March 2023 (The cruise was cancelled), I would be beginning a month log exploration of various ports in Brazil today. We would be landing in Macapa, Brazil, which is a major population center and the capital of the state of Amapa, in the northern part of Brazil.

Speaking of location, the equator passes through the center of the town of Macapa. I never expected to be this close to the equator, let alone be able to stand on both sides of it at the same time. This is definitely on my to-do list. 

The temperature today is expected to be 91 degrees, 70% humidity and partly cloudy. Although this doesn’t sound great, the forecast for the days before and after was for more heat. Later in the week thunderstorms are expected. So, all in all, not bad for the tropics.

An interesting thing about this town, it’s on a peninsula, and is only accessible by sea or by air. You cannot drive to Macapa from anywhere. This affects everything here. There’s so much water, not only because it’s on the coast, but it’s also at the mouth of the Amazon. I’d wear the mosquito retarding clothing I bought for the trip, light colors, a hat, and gloves, despite the heat, CLICK HERE (ad).

My must-see list is very short due to the weather and the bugs. I’d visit the Fortaleza de Sao Jose de Macapa, since I understand it’s beautiful, well-kept, and directly on the coast. It’s the largest Portuguese fort outside of Portugal. Lunch would be at one of the riverside restaurants.

Although I don’t speak Portuguese, both English and French are taught in the schools here, so I shouldn’t have any trouble communicating. Since I have food allergies, I’d take a laminated 3x5 card with me with a list of foods I must avoid translated into Portugues. I’ve taken such cards with me when I’ve dined in foreign countries in the past. It eliminated problems. A real Life Lesson.

The Centro de Pesquisas Museologicas Museum would be an interesting destination, but I’ve been warned about standing water there, and lots of mosquitos. Since the number of plants and animals it contains is limited, for me, it’s not worth the risk.

Marco Zero is a landmark showing the Equator line, where the Northern and Southern Hemispheres meet. There’s really nothing to do there, except marvel that you’re there. However, experiences is why I decided to sign up for a 3-year cruise in the first place, so I would visit, bask in the novelty of the moment, and take way too many photographs. There’s a gift shop that’s receives great reviews, so although I probably wouldn’t buy anything there, I’d visit, nonetheless.

Although there are several other things to do in Macapa, none of them outweighs the tropical weather and all that comes with it for me. For the more adventurous, however, there are other museums and attractions.  I'd spend the rest of the day onboard, taking full advantage of the air conditioning. 

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Butchart Gardens, Vancouver, Canada

 

Barcelona, Spain

If things had gone as planned, I would be in Barcelona, Spain right now. I know this because my iPad told me so this morning. I remember, one of the tech savvy passengers on the 3-year round-the-world cruise I signed up for this past March took our itinerary and formatted it for our iPhones and iPads. I uploaded it to mine. 

So, when the location popped up on my calendar, I realized I can still take my blog readers on a 3-year cruise. I'll tell everyone what I have seen on previous trips to the places I have already visited, and explain where I was planning to go on my now cancelled 3-year cruise. 

I've visited Barcelona before, also ironically while on a cruise. I was taking a 3-week long cruise of the Mediterranean Sea out of South Hampton. We stopped for the day in Barcelona. It was nowhere near enough time. 

I wanted to visit the Park Guell, designed by Gaudi. It's covered with colorful tile work. I had seen photos of it, and realized this would be a worthwhile destination. the park is situated on a series of hills, and is full of steps. If you start from the bottom and walk up, you better be in great shape. My decision was to take a taxi to the top of the park, and walk down. I intended to pick up a taxi at the bottom, and return to my cruise ship. Want to learn more about the park? CLICK HERE (ad).

Sadly, I didn't go to see the park. Why? I noticed there were no handrails at all. Several of the steps were pretty steep too. In my physical condition, walking down those steps seemed too risky for me to try alone. Life lesson, when travelling alone, check out who else wants to visit attractions you are interested in, and see if you can go together, split the costs and maybe have a shoulder to hold onto while walking up or down precarious steps. Wish I had. 

If I was in Barcelona today, I would spend much of my day on La Rambla, the most iconic street in Barcelona. It stretches inland from the port. My plan would be to walk the length of the street until I tired. Then I'd pick an outdoor cafe, have some wine and tapas (yummy small bites famous all over Spain). Want to learn more about Tapas? CLICK HERE  (ad). After I rested, my plan was to walk back to the ship in time for dinner. 

Barcelona was planned to be a short stop  in order to pick up passengers who didn't want to fly to Istanbul, which was the intended starting point of the 3-year cruise. The next ten days were meant to be at sea. While some might find land days the most enjoyable, I love being at sea. In the past, I intentionally chose cruises that had many sea days. This was the main reason the 3-year cruise was so appealing to me in the first place. 

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Woulda Coulda Shoulda

If things had gone as planned with the 3-year cruise I signed up for in March, I would be on a flight to Istanbul CLICK HERE (ad) right now. I was one of the lucky ones, as it turns out. I cancelled my trip once I learned the management team had a falling out with the cruise line with which they had been in business. According to a recent CNN article I read, (link below), the cruise line hasn’t even completed their purchase of the ship that was to set out on November 1.

One-way flights are more expensive than round-trip tickets, but that is what I had planned to purchase. Those who decided to stick with the cruise, instead of cancelling as I did, and booked their flights will find themselves in a jam. That is, unless they purchased trip cancellation/interruption insurance. I always do so when flying. It has saved me lots in the past.

Once such case was my three-week trip to Key West, Florida CLICK HERE (ad) a few years before Covid struck. I booked my flight and paid well in advance. This way my purchase price was much lower than it would have been if I had waited. This could have been a disaster for me, as the airline decided to move my connecting flight to Key West to several hours earlier than my arrival in Atlanta. There was no way I would have been able to make the flight, as I would have been in the air.

Since my flight was cancelled by the airline, my money was refunded. However, the new flight I needed to book was at a much higher cost. Since I had purchased the right type of insurance, the company paid me the difference between my original flight and the new one I had to book. I really hope those passengers still planning on taking the Life at Sea cruise protected themselves in this way.

The other expense they may be on the hook for is their hotel reservation. I always check the cancellation policy. I had booked my room for this trip long before deciding not to go but made sure the hotel would allow me to pay when my stay was concluded, rather than in advance. There was also no penalty for cancelling the reservation up to one week in advance of the trip. Life Lesson. Never pay in advance for hotel stays. Always make sure you can cancel without penalty, if necessary. The farther out a trip is, the more important this becomes.

Years ago, when taking students to Europe over Spring Break and over Summer Vacation, I used a travel agent. She looked out for our interests. Once, she called me at the end of the school day. She told me, if I could bring back the airline tickets we had already purchased, she would be able to refund over $300 for each participant on the trip. All we had to do was to spend an extra two days in a five-star hotel in Amsterdam. Because we had used a travel agent, she saved us enough money to pay for the extra two days, in which we toured the city via canal boat, and visited the Anne Frank House CLICK HERE (ad). Priceless. 

The passengers still booked on the 3-year cruise won’t need their hotel reservations in Istanbul. From the CNN article, I learned the cruise won’t be leaving from Istanbul for some reason. The new port is in Amsterdam. The cruise line representative mentioned to the reporter that this is just a short flight from Istanbul. That’s absurd. It’s an added expense for the flight and another hotel to be booked.

It looks more and more like the original management team was correct. They warned us the cruise line may not have a ship ready for the cruise to start on time. They were also worried about what they perceived as a lack of transparency. Both issues are mentioned in the new article as well. You would think six or seven months would be enough time to make such a purchase, especially since a ship had already been located and the process had begun.

Perhaps my fellow travelers should have pulled back when I did. Some sold their homes, quit their jobs, retired early, and took money out of their retirement accounts. I’m saddened our dream was put in jeopardy. I hope they did the things mentioned above, bought trip cancellation insurance, and worked with a travel agent. This might help them recover some of their funds if the cruise doesn’t happen. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for them, as I know how important this trip is to them. It was to me too. At least, for me, there is no longer any risk to my finances or health. I wish them all a bon voyage.

CNN Article: CLICK HERE

 Photo Credit: Google Images

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