Zoom Call 4.16.24 Cruisin' 'Round the World with John DL Arendsen
Jules Verne wrote about traveling Around the World in 80 days as a wager amongst 'gentlemen" . The book and the novel captured imaginations and if only for a brief moment, people would wonder what that adventure would offer in the way of delights and sights to nourish the mind.
Technology has evolved and the Zoom call put all within that adventure if only for an hour and through the eyes of AR member John DL Arendsen. From somewhere aboard the cruise ship Seven Seas Mariner of the Regency lines, John described the pleasures he and his wife, Janis, are experiencing on this 'Once in a lifetime vacation.
The cruise started from the Port of Miami on the Seven Seas Mariner, which is a mid-sized ship holding 700 passengers which only had 400 passengers on board and serviced by a crew of 500.
His presentation came from his Instagram feed, which not only shared his photos, but also the comments from friends and family as well.
For any of the attendees on the call that may have taken a cruise, it was not hard to put oneself in their place and use the mind to get invested in the call.
The trip was all inclusive, and started out at the airport in San Diego, CA with the flight that got them into Miami, FL.
He discussed the activities onboard ship that occupied their time while at sea. He raved about the services, the food and the attention of the people.
There were excursions available at each port, and at some of the layovers, they were offered a night at a hotel.
Ports of call are not only for sightseeing but also for provisioning the ship with fresh produce and stores.
They made some stops in Central America, one in Costa Rica, during which they did a zip-line adventure through a 2500-acre rain forest. They cruised into Colombia and then went through the Panama Canal to get to the west side of the continent.
Their stop in San Diego allowed then to get home to pick up some forgotten items. They cruised up the CA coast with a stop in San Francisco. They got to appreciate the waves and the surf competition on the North shore of Oahu on the Bonsai Pipeline.
Cruising to Kauai, they enjoyed the island and then continued through to Polynesia.
At some time, we may have seen an offering to stay a night at a room on stilts over water. John and Janis did so and got to appreciate South Pacific life as a native, almost.
The stops were beautiful and whether they chose to take tours was always their choice.
They spent a night in a hotel in Singapore and marveled at the uniqueness of the architecture of the buildings, very few of which would be allowed in our country.
He spoke of being unable to make some of the port stops due to bad weather and as the harbors could not accept a cruise ship, they would have been 'tendered' ashore but high waves made that impossible.
He also spoke of not being able to make some of the ports of Call in the Middle East due to the tensions and instability currently in the region.
The photo on the right shows a portion of his presentation screen share and the running comments from people taking the cruise with them.
Whie Jules Vernes' characters took 80 days to make the trip, John and Janis will complete 155 days when their cruise is done.
He shared a link to the cruise ship website so interested parties can get a better feel for the cruise and maybe do some dream planning as well.
It was a most entertaining hour and his shares brought up fond memories of some of our cruise adventures, up to and including the stops in Costa Rica and the Panama Canal.
Zoom Call 4.16.24 Cruisin' 'Round the World with John DL Arendsen
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