World Cruise History

As you might expect we're not on the first world cruise. The Cunard ship,SS Laonia, was chartered by American Express for a round-the-world cruise from November 21, 1922 - March 30, 1923. This 130-day voyage was the first continuous passenger cruise of its kind, paving the way for modern world cruises. The ship carried 400 American tourists and arrived in New York after calling at 22 ports, including destinations in Japan, Singapore, Egypt, and India.

And, as our captain told us in today's "Enrichment lecture," there was also the "Voyage of Exploration" by James Cook. His third voyage, from 1776 to 1780, was intended to explore the coasts along the north Pacific Ocean. He commanded the ships Resolution and Discovery, and the expedition aimed to determine the existence of a Northwest Passage. The Resolution sailed 63,000 nautical miles and the voyage lasted 3 years and 8 days. We'll sail a total of 65,000 nautical miles on our world cruise and do it in "just" 274 days!

Captain Stig, captain of this vessel, mentioned the first vessel to cross the Antartic Circle did so on 4 Jan 1793 at 71 degrees South. If possible, we will head even further to 65 degrees South (weather permitting). He informed us we will have ice pilots onboard and since he grew up above the Artic Circle, he is familiar with navigating a ship in such conditions. He mentioned we can expect to see Penguins, Blue Whales, Humpback Whales, Seals and large birds. An interesting fact he mentioned was that the North Pole and South Pole only have one sunrise and sunset. When it the sun rises on March 22 in the North Pole, it sets in the South. Then on December 22, it sets on the North Pole and rises on the South Pole. I was under the impression that no one lives on either one of the poles .. but of course, Jeff corrected me and said there are three at each .. to hold "The Pole," each having an eight hour shift.

When asked what we can expect in the Drake Passage:

Captain Stig informed us that the weather conditions can vary. The worst he's seen is 40 foot wave swells. YIKES. Let's hope for the best. Our waiter, Shangam, says all the crew is already training in preparation for our venture that leads south from South America to the Antartic. Thanks to Royal Caribbean, all the world explorers have been outfitted with snazzy rain gear in preparation for this segment of our upcoming voyage.

When the captain was asked, "How can the passengers expect to feel on that portion ot the journey, he merely stated, "Uncomfortable." We can hardly wait!!