In addition to seeing the world and visiting fabulous places, lots of friendships grow on the world cruise between passengers and crew alike.  These are some photos of some of the special activities we had, culminating with a farewell to all by the crew. 

The event began with crew members entering the showroom carrying flags of their countries.  I was very honored to begin the procession with the US Flag. 

Funchal, Madeira, Portugal was a fantastic way to end our Grand World Voyage.  They have the funnest basket sleigh ride through the streets of Funchal that I ride each time I go there.

Funchal is known as the floral island.  While we were there, there was a festival going on with beautiful carpets of flowers on the pedestrian walkways.

Cadiz Spain is one of the last stops before crossing the Atlantic back to the US.  It’s a pleasant town with a nice beach and a great shoreside walkway.

Barcelona, Spain, was another overnight stay for us.  Overnights for crew are like a day off.  We get to go ashore, stay out late if we want.  I especially hanging out on Las Ramblas, the main pedestrian area in Barcelona, and people watching.

This city has so much to offer.  The architecture of the buildings is fascinating, greatly influenced by Gaudi.

Bull-fighting used to be a popular spectator sport in Spain but most areas have made it illegal.  This is a typical bull ring which has been made into a shopping center.

Naples Italy on the mainland is the origin of PIZZA!  This is an ancient pizza restaurant where the pizza is still prepared in a fire oven.  You have to allow plenty of time to have lunch here as the waiting time each day can be 1-2 hours.

This is also the port where you can drive along the famous Amalfi Coast, one of the prettiest drivers in the Med.

Messina is one of the ports we visit in Sicily, Italy.  In the center of the city, there is a beautiful old church and every day at noon, music plays Ava Maria while the characters on the church spin and play.  

Katakalon Greece is the port city to Olympia – the site where the ancient Olympic Games took place.  It was originally men only that participated – and they participated nude!  (No photos of that, sorry!)

We arrived safely into the Mediterranean – which is my favorite place to sail.  There are so many different cultures and languages and they are modern in their own ways.  The first stop here was a 2-day stay in Athens, Greece.  A group of friends had the evening out down in the Plaka District where there’s a heavenly view of the Acropolis.

Next we had several days at sea where we went “full speed ahead” as we transited the pirate waters near the Gulf of Aden.  This is what we were on the lookout for.  The ship goes to extra measures through this area including wrapping us up in concertina wire.  Fortunately we made it through the area into the Suez Canal with no incidents.

Our next stop was Safaga, Egypt which is the gateway into Luxor, the home of the Valley of the Kings & Queens, King Tut’s Tomb, Karnak’s Temple.  Since I have been there in the past I chose to spend the day at a resort, by a pool.

Sharm el Shiek, Egypt is an area developed for tourism with beautiful resorts and fabulous diving and snorkeling.  Note the sign on the Hard Rock café!

“Authentic Egyptian Restaurant Bar”

Going through the Suez Canal is a full day transit and quite different than the Panama Canal as there are no locks.  Traffic flows in one direction so you have to be in position on time or lose your spot which could cause a days delay in arriving at your next destination.  The west side of the Canal is irrigated and has much life including some beautiful resorts.  The east side however is just miles and miles of desert sand.

A regular item in their diet in this region is pigeon.  The cone shaped buildings are the pigeon raising farms.