Jim and Pat Bittle were right: the stop in Doha Qatar on the Navigator was the one and only . . the stop there scheduled on the Voyager WC in March has been canceled and the stop in Abu Dhabi been lengthened.

So far that's the only change we've been told about.

Jamie and Dana (they are on board now) will be on for the entire trip as will Dag - he boards in LA.

Peggy

Bon Voyage World Cruisers! We look forward to traveling along with you via sea mail. We know you'll have lots of fun and adventures!

Hi Peggy:

We wish we were doing the World Cruise with you again this year but, alas, the economy knocked us for a loop. We are fortunate however that we did the cruise last year as met so many wonderful people and saw sites we never thought we would.

May smooth seas, good health and lots of laughs be your constant companion during your world adventure.

Cheers! Ray & Penny

Bon voyage Peggy - can't wait for your Seamail to start.

I'm looking forward to your Seamail, Peggy. Bon Voyage!

Bon Voyage, Peggy! Have a wonderful WC!!!!!

Sorry guys,

I'm not a good blogger . . . hopefully someone will be on board who will step up to the plate. I guess we were all counting on Larry . . . .

I don't mean to be a wet blanket , I just don't feel comfortable . . .

I will of course post anything important . . .

Peggy

We sure hope we hear something from you Peggy. We'll go through withdrawals not hearing any news. Even if it's just a bit of blah blah blah (that's all I ever did )

Any other LCT'ers on any of the WC segments ??

Peggy, even a "Hi, it's beautiful on the Voyager today," is better than nothing. Just let us know once in awhile that all is well with you and the cruise.

Peggy, my friend: Don't let LCT put you on a guilt trip! We would love to hear from you but your enjoying your cruise is your primary purpose.

Happy cruising,
Ardis

Ardis, I don't think we are tying to lay a guilt trip on Peggy, we just want her to check in to say hi every now and again! I think she thought we wanted her to do a blog but no one actually requested that from her.
We are going to miss our Peggy!!!!

I don't blame you for not wanting to blog, I'm not sure I would do that either. Keeping a private journal is different, and would be more meaningful for me on such a long trip. But we all love seamail back here, so drop us a line once in a while if you can manage to tear yourself away from the great time you are having!

I thoroughly enjoy reading other peoples' blogs,viewing their pictures when they are cruising.I find it interesting and informative...seeing the world through anothers eyes.


I have often wished I had kept a journal/blog on our cruises...but never have,perhaps due to the fact I wasn't sure how to set it up, also I hate writing,but don't mind typing in my 3 finger style.

Not so much for other people to read but to refresh my memory down the road when things start to fade...after all they say memory is second thing to go.

I know!!! I'll get someone to help me set one up on CAPTAINS. Any takers?

Peggy, no pressure or guilt trip from me either. Just hope you'll check in once and awhile to let us know you're having fun. We'll miss you.

I will check in . . and of course if anything "important" happens, I'll post. I'm hoping for a calm, fun trip!

I agree with Wanda - I do a private journal but going public is just not my style.

Debby Burch always finds Regent blogs and I'm counting on her again this year!

Ardis - I hope you'll post from the Mariner as well!

Peggy

Peggy, I hope you have a wonderful cruise, and if you want to tell us about it, we will love that!

Yes, I will post from the Mariner. It is exciting that there are two World Cruises this year. We leave in about two weeks and have not yet received our docs. Our luggage is picked up in six days. IT IS CLOSE.

Ardis

Peggy -- Please don't feel any guilt...enjoy your cruise. As you know, we surely wish we were going along with you. Just let us know if you hear of anyone doing a blog or on-line journal. I don't have your e-mail address, but have sent you an LCT private message.

Ardis -- Best wishes to you and Stan on your upcoming Mariner WC. Looking forward to your insightful posts.

We are having a bit of excitement today: a medical evacuation by US Coast Guard helicopter. A seriously ill patient was removed at 2pm our time. The original time was 10:30am but the wind (43km) made that impossible so there was a delay

We are about half way up the Baha Peninsula (looking at the TV map). The man is being flown to a hospital in San Diego where his family is waiting for him – his wife was not able to accompany him on the helicopter but we get to LA tomorrow morning so I assume she will go there asap.

The evacuation took place from deck 12 (it would have to be in front of the superstructure), all the deck furniture is being removed from that deck as well as deck 11.

The helicopter hovered over the port side of the ship and the man strapped to a stretcher and winched up and flown off.

The helicopter flew 200+ miles to get to the ship and was accompanied by a refueling plane. Jamie did say at one point that he was stable so that’s good news.

Congratulations to the US Coast Guard and to all the people on board the Voyager who made this go smoothly.

Quite a story Peggy. I do hope the man will be o.k.!

I can't imagine how scary that would be, I hope the patient makes a quick recovery.

We had similar experience on Fjords but I was in bed - many LCTers witnessed evacuation of medical patient in wee hrs - high winds etc pretty amazing job done by helicopter and Regent etc -

Thanks for the update, Peggy. Hope the ill passenger makes a quick recovery.

Joanna,

I remember reading about the evacuation on Fjords. Although we had wind, it clearly was not the same weather conditions - it was in the mid-60s today. That must have been really something!

We're all praying that the gentleman recovers quickly.

Peggy

Looking forward to visiting the Voyager tomorrow. Today is in the mid 80's but some breeze, blue skies... just perfect. Hopefully tomorrow will be just as nice. I can't wait to hear about the big dinner party tonight with Frankie Vali.

I sure hope the gentleman will be OK Peggy.

Is Voyager overnighting in LA? Are they not putting up all the World Cruisers at the St Regis again?

NO, the gala dinner is just another evening on Voyager. No more elegant hotel pre-cruise. Mariner IS having their gala dinner and pre-cruise night at a hotel.

Ardis

p.s. I forgot to add that Frankie Vallie will be a special guest on board for the pre-night.

Marc, the St. Regis is no more (sold off as condo's I think). Last year all the WCers were at the Fairmont Hotel in S.F. but this year they're staying on the ship for the big event. Besides, officers & crew, It will be full WCers and RSSC "brass" only on the ship. There are a few other very lucky ones who are invited to attend the Frankie Vali concert....like Ngaire & Ken !

When does the Voyager leave LA for the WC. The web site said the 13th, today.

Doris -

Scheduled for 4pm today, Tuesday.

Larry, how is Karen doing? thanks Wes

Wes -

Thanks for asking. Karen is doing fine. Still don't have the right blood-thinner dosages set to where there should be, but the docs are working on it.

This week has been a bit rough, thinking of all the full world cruisers joining the Voyager yesterday and her departure today...as we are in sunny, snowy-covered Chicago with 10 degree temps (expected 2 degree high tomorrow) while our planned shipmates are setting sail for Tahiti enroute to a wonderful four-month experience.

But we hope all the TAs enjoyed their night oboard last evening for dinner and the Frankie Valli show, and Marcie her visit today. We will look forward to reading the reports.

In the meantime, we wish Peggy and the others a wonderful voyage with Capt. Dag and his crew.

Just make it to Saturday Larry. Should be in the 20s. Heat Wave!

Glad to hear that Karen is doing OK. Hope things get regulated soon and she gets back to feeling herself.

Know you must be disappointed not to be on the ship, but as someone said, good thing this came up before you would have left, could be scary if it happened a few days into the cruise. Hang in there.

We had a FANTASTIC day onboard the Voyager yesterday and were sure thinking about Larry & Karen !! It's hard to even know where to begin so I'll just try to summarize....

We arrived around 11:00 am and were the last of the visitors to leave the ship (during the newcomer's muster drill) :eek: just before sail away. The weather was perfect, mid 80's. The ship looks fabulous and we really like all the improvements. Considering the smaller size for the coffee bar compared with the Mariner's space, I think they did a great job utilizing the space in configuring the new coffee corner. We also LOVED Prime 7 and the menu is to die for ! There is new furniture (mostly comfy big padded chairs) through out the ship and restaurants. The entire ship is much lighter with off white walls...it just all seems so cheerful. I took lots of pictures so I may post some for you. The ice cream bar is great....of course I was quick to try that out. There is the pizzeria inside of LaVeranda (had to try this out too ). The pizza is very tasty, not great but better than the previous pizza. If they could find a way to make the crust real thin and crispy, it would really be good.

One of the first people we ran into when we boarded was Jamie Logan. He came over and gave us both big hugs. I asked how things were going (maybe not the best lead in question) and he immediately told us about how disastrous the disembarkation had been the day before. Apparently it was as if the Port of Los Angeles wasn't even expecting them and NOTHING was ready. There was a huge shortage of port people, porters, custom clearance types....just a HUGE fiasco. We heard all this from other officers as well saying it was the worst disembarkation they had ever experienced in their careers. Dana Logan said the last passengers weren't off the ship until 12:15 (or was it 1:15 ?)
Of course Regent (and probably Jamie) was taking the brunt of all the complaints and frustration but it truly sounds like it was a fault of the port authorities etc., not Regent. Many missed their flights and there were a lot of unhappy people....both passengers and crew. Probably a very helpless feeling by the Voyager crew. Thank goodness yesterday was a whole new day and everything seemed to be going very well. Capt Dag looks great (duh) and it was nice seeing him. He will definitely miss having Larry & Karen on board.

We saw sooooooooooooo many passengers and crew we knew and had a wonderful time catching up with old friends. Unfortunately, we didn't see Peggy and Cy :banana:

Larry, great to hear Karen is on the road
to recovery...hope ya'll get to plan another cruise soonest..r/wes

Marcie, I bet you and Tom had soooo much fun! I am looking forward to the pictures!

Perhaps those that actually had to endure the disembarkation should voice their opinion. I was there and was subjected to the madness, but prefer to take up the matter with Regent.

Marcie what a fun day! The Voyager is such a beautiful ship - look forward to your pixs!