Correction from previous blog entry:
"When we sailed on the Westerdam in 2007, the ship had already been extensively remodeled from its German origins" should read "When we sailed on the Westerdam in 2000".  Sorry for putting in the wrong date.  

Sunday, 14 April 2019
Tucson, Arizona

This will be the final blog concerning my recent cruise in East Asia.  I hope you have enjoyed sharing the adventure with me and I look forward to reporting on my next cruise, for which I have put down a deposit and reserved a stateroom.  But more details about that next cruise at the end of today's blog.

First, though, some photos from Shanghai and Beijing, taken during my trip to China with Will in 1994.  We enjoyed an 18-day land tour (Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou, the Grand Canal, Wuxi, Beijing, Xian, Guilin, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong).  After leaving Hong Kong, we stayed one week with my brother and sister-in-law in her condominium in central Tokyo.   

Scenes from Shanghai, 1994 and 2019

The grimy Soviet-built Shanghai Exhibition Hall (1955), as seen in 1994

in 2019 is a spic-and-span interior design center, with new skyscrapers in the background

What was refuse-filled slums behind deluxe high-rise hotels in 1994

have been replaced by ribbons of neon and light in 2019

What was traditional Chinese botanic design at YuYuen Gardens in 1994

 

has become a busy shopping mecca for locals and tourists in 2019

And the little beside the TV tower that could be seen from the Bund looking eastward in 1994

has become the central business district of Pudong in 2019

                             

Photos from Beijing June 1994

Some of the Places Passengers from the Westerdam were Able to Visit on the Two Days of Sightseeing in Beijing--with six hours of bus rides each day to get there and back.

Forbidden City

Tiananmen Square

Summer Palace

The Great Wall

at Badung

--And Now for Something Completely Different--

Next Cruise Announcement:

21 October-8 November 2019

19 Day Cruise on

Seabourn's mv Encore

From Athens (Piraeus), Greece, to Dubai, UAE

Visiting the Following Ports:

Agios Nikolaos, Crete, Greece

Haifa, Israel

Ashdod, Israel

(Scenic Cruising through Suez Canal)

Aqaba, Jordan

Salallah, Oman

Muscat, Oman

Sir Bani Yas, United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Abu Dhabi , UAE

Dubai, UAE

(disembarkation and extra days in Dubai)

This trip combines several exciting opportunities:

• The United Arab Emirates have been on my wish-list of destinations for some time.
• The dates are perfect for travel in that part of the world and for coordination with expected guests in Tucson.
• A special reduced price for solo travelers in veranda cabins on a super-deluxe all-inclusive cruise.
• A small ship (only 300 cabins; maximum 600 guests) able to sail into smaller waterways and ports.
• No advance visas or vaccinations required.
• A small deposit to reserve my veranda stateroom midship on deck 6; final payment not due until July.

LFL at Sea will return during the summer to fill in more details of this next cruise.

Until then, thanks for reading, sweet dreams, and may there be many more bon voyages in your future and mine.