As we are wont to do, we spent a great deal of 2024 traveling. Besides some other stuff, we went on three big-time cruises. Here is a breakdown.
Just as we've done for several years now, we enjoyed Panama City Beach during much of the Winter. I was going to say that we didn't do much exciting stuff this time, but looking back now, it seems like it was bunches of fun.
Less than a week later, we were flying to Sydney, Australia to embark on our first cruise of the year. It went from Sydney to Papeete, French Polynesia, and it was a doosie. But them aren't they all? This year, they were. The highlight of this one was our visit to American Samoa National Park, probably the most remote of the bunch.
In June, we took our Grandsons to New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia. Vincent and I enjoyed some white-water rafting.
Come August, it was time to cruise again. This time from Tromso, Norway to Reykjavík, Iceland. We also made stops in Greenland and Svalbard. Spitzbergen, Svalbard is probably the closest we'll ever get to the North Pole, and it, along with the other ports of call were all terribly exciting. It was a good way to get away from the late Summer heat.
Finally, it was time for the Big One. That's our October/November cruise from LA to Singapore. Up the West Coast, Alaska, including the Aleutian Islands, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Singapore. All in 41 days. The funny thing was this: it was a little too much. Too much cruising in general this year. Too much on this cruise itself, including the six consecutive sea days between Alaska and Japan, Port after port of small Japanese towns, and of course, too much good food and drink. (Notice that I'm not complaining too very much here. Just a little.) Most of all, this one on top of the others, was too much money.
Will 2025 be any better? Stay tuned.
