The respected travel writer for Conde Nast Traveler magazine recently posted an article on her blog discussing her upcoming cruise in light of the Costa Concordia disaster;” Why I’m not panicking.”
She explained that her mother recently called to see if she planned to cancel her Presidents Day cruise, but Wendy’s leaving her family’s cruise vacation plans unchanged. First of all she reminds us that the chance of a fatality white driving to the pier is 1 in 7,000 while the odds of a fatality on a cruise ship are 1 in six million.
However, Wendy is taking a few extra precautions. Of course she will make certain the entire family takes part in the lifeboat drill and that they memorize the location of their life boat and muster station. She will also see that sufficient life jackets are available in her cabin for the entire family (and that they are the right size). She’ll also look on board for the location where extra life jackets are stowed for those passengers who might not have time to return to their staterooms to retrieve their jackets. Finally, she’ll bring along a little flashlight, just in case of a power failure.
Today every cruise line and every captain is now under extra scrutiny – safety standards will be elevated higher than ever. Notwithstanding, we choose our cruise lines carefully. First of all, we avoid cruise lines that broadcast every announcement in several languages. In the event of an issue, it could take some time to communicate with all the passengers. We also select those cruise lines that take safety seriously. While we dread the life boat drills, we appreciate that they take place. And we applaud those cruise lines that take roll during these drills to account for every passenger on the ship.
Finally, we’ll avoid today’s giant ships. Evacuating a 4,000-passenger vessel must be far more difficult than ships ranging in size from 200-2000 passengers. This is a subject authorities will explore in more depth in the months and years to come.
We share the sorrow of those families that have lost their loved ones on the Costa Concordia. At the same time it was heartwarming to learn about the hospitality of the residents of the little Tuscan island of Giglio who took so many passengers into their homes until they could begin their homeward journey. And we applaud the coast guard captain who commanded the irresponsible captain to reboard his sinking ship and assist with the evacuation. Vado Bordo, Cazzo!
Seabourn in the Aegean
We plan to cruise in late April through the beautiful Adriatic and the Aegean on the new Seabourn Quest. We can’t wait.
Coming of age in the 60s, in the midst of the Vietnam conflict, I could not imagine every visiting Hanoi. (And thoroughly enjoying the experience.) From our base at the classic 
When many visitors think of Cambodia’s capital, they cannot separate the city from the genocide committed by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. During our visit we went to see the site of the Killing Fields as well as the notorious prison in the city’s center. Just as visiting World War II concentration camps gives travelers an important and jarring perspective on life and inhumanity, these visits in Cambodia make one question how such tragedies can happen. How can we become so evil? On the positive side, the magnificent Royal Palace complex will stun you with its architectural beauty.
Beginning in the 6th Century, a basilica was built on the site of an ancient place of worship constructed by the Visagoths. During the Islamic period in Spain this church was destroyed in order to build a mosque on the site in 785 AD. No ordinary mosque, this was to be the most important Islamic place of worship in all in the West. Two subsequent additions enlarged the mosque to a truly impressive structure. In 1236, when the Christians reconquered Cordoba, the mosque was ‘purified’ and then converted back into a Christian cathedral. (
cruise ships (1070 guests), over 600 crew members assure a top quality, personalized experience.
it’s spoiled.
came up to me and asked, in English, “Where are you from?” She continued, “What is your name?” “How many brothers and sisters do you have?” “How long will you stay?” These are, of course, fairly easy phrases to memorize but the little girl went beyond those. When we asked her name, she said it was “Monika”. Of course, that was her English name; after all, her Cambodian name would be very difficult to remember.
Not everyone speaks English; not everyone is as helpful or friendly. But our sense is that this is a great place to visit.
Unlike the temperatures in the north of the country, the air is quite warm and more humid. On Sunday we reach our final destination, Saigon, where we’ll spend the evening. There our group of travelers will dine in the former home of US Ambassador to South Vietnam, Henry Cabot Lodge. The next day, Monday, we begin our journey home.
There we boarded a vessel described as a ‘luxury junk’ – the term made us a little nervous. (Of course we checked it out long before we traveled and felt very comfortable with it.) When we boarded the comforts and the warm hospitality soon erased any concerns; it was a great experience. Shortly after boarding the captain began navigating through the picturesque limestone islands called ‘karsts’. Even though it was colder than we expected and, unfortunately, overcast, the experience was magical, worth every moment of our journey.
capped mountains of Turkey’s Kurdish region.
magnificent fortress situated high astride the ridge of the mountain, the interest began to grow. At the entrance to the road leading up to the fort, we saw a long line of elephants waiting to take us up the mountain. This was getting interesting. While we waited to board our elephants, a local Rajastani man tied turbans on many of us. Properly equipped with regional headgear, we boarded the elephants and set off on our climb up the mountain. Touristy but fun.
After a busy morning it was time for lunch. And what a lunch… We had planned a “Royal Welcome” at a beautiful hotel, once a residence owned by the Maharaja of Jaipur. When we approached the hotel a band played music the maharaja’s armies might have used a couple of centuries ago. A huge elephant, two camels, two horses and a curious monkey flanked the entrance to welcome us.
Tuesday morning, Varanasi, India
sidewalks.
During the next two days we visited the handsome government buildings built by the British in the early 1900s, a magnificent structure (Humayans’s tomb) many call the precursor of the Taj Mahal and took off our shoes to visit the largest mosque in India. We boarded rickshaws to drive through the 
narrow lanes of Old Delhi while noisy commerce and tooting horns surrounded us. However the highlight of our stay in Delhi was our visit one evening to an Indian family. Our bus took us through Delhi’s dark neighborhoods to a newish 5-story building. We walked up four flights and rang the doorbell. There we met our charming hostess, Mrs. Prabeen Singh, along with her pretty daughter who recently began her practice as a child psychologist. During the next 45 minutes a series of fascinating local people arrived. Among them was the head of the Wall Street Journal in India, a Sikh gentlemen who publishes a prestigious journal on Indian affairs, a well-known physicist, an affable woman (who would host the King of Bhutan the following day at her accommodations at a noted tiger reserve), a woman who headed the department of comparative religions at a Delhi university, a coin expert and several others.
