3 more sleeps

I set this blog up with comments disabled so that I may use my time (read that as "money") more efficiently while on the Rhapsody. There have been comments on CruiseCritic where I'm cross-posting, at least for now. I have been reading your reponses on CC, and I thank you for the kind words.

I will try to chronicle the experiences, hopefully the experiences that make this trip unique. I see no point in talking about the menus, for example, because it will be pretty much the standard RCCL fare and everybody has an opinion. Besides, menu discussions get as boring as the menus themselves do while on a long trip!

On the other hand, there are several things that make this trip one of a kind. Some of them are personal - meaning individualized, not meaning secret. Some are global. Some are confusing. Some are anxiety-laden.

For example, I am concerned about leaving my 93 yo father for so long. He is in an assisted living facility, but he depends on me for so much. He is the first to say, go and have fun. He managed when I was in Europe last summer - that was 33 days compared to this 42 day trip. Fortunately I have 4 specific wonderful friends who checked up on him last year and will do so again now.

On the global level, how does one pack for 42 days without a washing machine?

As for the confusing items, I spent alot of time putting together a spread sheet with the itinerary, the port times, the probable tour times, the corresponding time at home, and, subsequently the best time to make phone calls between OZ/NZ and home. (I've got to check w/Dad and/or his babysitters!) Plus, to add to the confusion, Australia's daylight savings time is not national, but rather it's local. They have rather weird time zones, some are in 1/2 hour increments from the neighboring zone. I found one area that abuts 2 time zones which are an hour and a half apart, so that area is actually 45 minutes different than it's neighbors!

The most difficult issue is Papua New Guinea. The US State Department reports are scary although they seem to have moderated in recent days. This is their most recent update: http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1757.html I have been very concerned for quite awhile because Royal Caribbean has been ambivalent about the port. Remember the Millennium passengers involved in an accident in South America a few years ago? Celebrity implied that nothing would have happened had the passengers taken a ship's tour, because the line checks out safety issues, licensing, etc. Well, Royal Caribbean has decided not to offer any tours in PNG, even though we are required to have a PNG visa simply because we are in PNG waters. "Welcome to PNG. Don't let the door hit you on your way out. Good bye and good luck." Are they going to have the nerve to push ship's tours in the ports before and after PNG? Meanwhile, I am weakening and I am on the verge of choosing between 2 tours, each organized by a different fellow Aussie passenger. The irony is that the Aussies are very cavallier about these tours, the Americans are rather nervous, and the truth is somewhere in between. Right or wrong, only time will tell which is the correct attitude.

Anyway, I guess you see what I mean when I talk about what makes a trip unique.