Jim Bozarth                                     

August 2007

October 2006

This has been a busy year for Mark and me. We put our Albuquerque house on the market this spring and immediately enjoyed a Transatlantic cruise to Barcelona with Mark’s brother Rob and his wife Dawn. We enjoyed great weather this time and now know the rumors of good weather on the Atlantic are true. The house sold in August and we ended the summer once again settled full-time in Palm Springs.

After three consecutive years of Transatlantic cruises in the spring, this new tradition has become the source of many new friends and acquaintances. I am always amazed how many people regularly enjoy cruising and realize so many different benefits from their cruise experiences. We dined each evening with a couple from Perth, Australia, who have been cruising since the 1960s. Since they were our age, I was intrigued by their active lives, integrating love of sea travel with careers on land. Cell phones, satellite phones and Internet connections enable more people to conduct business while traveling. Mark and I are getting pretty good at it ourselves and hope to expand our worldwide abilities.

Did you know, in addition to cruises, Sailing with Jim offers all-inclusive land vacations, hosted-tours, hotel accommodations, car rentals and associated air arrangements? Whatever your idea of the perfect vacation, chances are I can assist. Give me a call or drop me an e-mail!

And if you’re thinking of cruising or traveling outside the United States and don’t have a passport that will be valid for at least six months following your return to the U.S., please make certain that you apply now or renew. Passport requirements for cruise passengers have been postponed until 2009, but only passports provide flexibility while traveling. For more information, go to the Internet at www.travel.state.gov.

Mark’s Musings

From the promenade deck

In previous newsletters, I have mused at length. This one is a bit different, a function of time and space mandating economy. This suits me fine, as I am employed full-time these days. While I find it difficult to be clever on cue, considering that the province of dogs and dancing bears, my solution is to write about my shortest cruise with the fewest ports; as it happens, that was also the most recent. As much as I love Transatlantic cruising, with days of 360 degree-ocean views and arriving in Europe without jet lag, there is something to be said for the focus of a much shorter repositioning cruise with land never far away.

We left Vancouver on Saturday afternoon and arrived in San Diego Tuesday morning. Time was short. I sat on the promenade deck and listened to Newport, Oregon radio stations and those of the Bay Area the following day. I couldn’t finish the book I selected from the ship’s library, but read enough to know I’ll find it at the Palm Springs library and finish it ashore. With only three dinners, I was disinclined to dine at my assigned time and table seating, so I had a great time eating with Jim at the buffet when we felt like it.

Yoga is something I always do on cruises as part of my buffet remediation efforts. In fact, my first yoga class ever was on a short cruise two years ago. So I took both yoga classes offered on this short cruise. The first class was pleasant enough. Then, the second instructor told me we had gotten off easy (which didn’t seem overly spiritual). Indeed. He had us do balancing poses (in Sanskrit, asana…as the yoga regulars say) that I can rarely accomplish on land. I only know the names of a few asanas, mostly Pavlovian, like shavasana, or corpse pose, where you lay on the ground and don’t move. I’m good at that one; I hear shavasana and I hit the deck. But back to yoga on our second day at sea: I was groaning through a triangle asana, facing land, and — instant karma! — rewarded by a fantastic view of Big Sur awash in the late afternoon California sun. Between my struggling asana and the coast were two sounding whales, blowing water from the navy-blue Pacific into a turquoise sky. Life was good and it was Monday, a work day.        ã 2006 Mark Foster

Cruising

Where we’ve been

In May, Mark and I enjoyed a 14-night Transatlantic cruise on Celebrity’s Millennium from Ft. Lauderdale to Barcelona. We visited Grand Bahama Island for the first time, enjoying the flat beauty of this low-key island, nothing like crowded Nassau on New Providence Island. Grand Bahama is one island to which we want to return. We also visited Bermuda for the first time and enjoyed the remains of the pirate and military history of this lonely but beautiful island. Other ports of call included Gibraltar, Malaga and Valencia.

Mark and I then enjoyed a family and friends cruise out of Los Angeles during the Memorial Day weekend. Celebrating the honoree’s 40^th birthday, this special cruise called on Ensenada and provided a sun-filled day on the Pacific for everyone to enjoy himself or gather with others to enjoy the many shipboard activities. We lost count of the birthday cakes by the last night of the cruise!

We just returned from our first visit to Vancouver, a breathtakingly beautiful city that we waited too long to visit. Several of our friends have moved there and this trip provided the opportunity to see them in their new homes and visit many of the bustling neighborhoods of central Vancouver.

We then boarded Holland America’s Zaandam for a 3-night repositioning cruise from Vancouver to San Diego. This short cruise provided no ports of call but did provide an opportunity to relax and enjoy the new amenities of Holland America’s

Signature of Excellence upgrades: the Culinary Arts Center presented by Food & Wine magazine featuring food preparation demonstrations; the fantastic Explorations Café powered by The New York Times, combining a coffee bar, Internet Café and extensive library in an inviting and luxurious environment; and upgraded linens and flat-screen televisions in the staterooms. And the final day at sea was sublime as we cruised in sunshine off the coast of Big Sur enjoying leaping dolphins and sounding whales on either side of the ship. Sailing into San Diego on a sunny weekday morning convinced us that a short cruise with no ports of call can be just as enjoyable as any other.

Cruising

Where we’re going

In November, we’re flying to Honolulu to board Norwegian Cruise Line’s Pride of America, the first new United States-flagged cruise ship in nearly 50 years, for a 7-night Hawai'i cruise calling on Hilo, Kahului (overnight), Kona and Nāwiliwili (overnight). This will be the first chance for either of us to visit the islands of Hawai'i, Maui and Kaua'i and we’re excited to see the unique beauty of our country’s fiftieth state.

Then we’re flying to San Juan in December to board Royal Caribbean’s Empress of the Seas, that line’s smallest and oldest ship, for an 11-night Caribbean cruise calling on St. Maarten, Antigua, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Barbados, Margarita Island (Venezuela), Curaçao and Aruba.

For our 2007 Transatlantic crossing, we’re sailing from San Juan to Rome aboard Celebrity’s Galaxy for 13-nights in May, calling on St. Maarten, Agadir, Casablanca, Barcelona and Ajaccio (Corsica). We chose this cruise for its calls in Morocco and Corsica, new and exotic places to experience. We plan to visit Marakesh from Casablanca and Napoleon Bonaparte’s birthplace in Ajaccio.

Trends

What’s on the horizon

More choices on more ships:

ü      Royal Caribbean has introduced the world’s largest ship, Freedom of the Seas, and will inaugurate its sister ship, Liberty of the Seas, in 2007. With passenger capacities of 4,375, 1,112 feet in length and a beam of 126 feet, these modern marvels can travel up to 21.6 knots and boast surf pools, ice-skating rinks, rock-climbing, miniature golf, wine bars, conference facilities and family staterooms.

ü      Celebrity will introduce the first of its three Solstice-class ships in 2008, each ship expected to have a passenger capacity of 2,850.

ü      Celebrity and Holland America have announced new and expanded itineraries in Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific.

ü      Norwegian Cruise Lines continues to influence other cruise lines with its Freestyle Cruising, enabling passengers to choose when and where they dine and enjoying other options throughout each day of the cruise. Most contemporary and premium lines now permit guests to take advantage of alternative dining opportunities throughout the ship. Mark and I never ate in the dining room on our recent repositioning cruise, choosing instead to dine in the buffet each evening with a view of the Pacific.

ü      Princess offers Movies Under the Stars, Hollywood blockbusters on 300-square foot LED projection systems that permit viewing day or night.

Jim’s Picks

Cruises to consider

In addition to many well-priced and last-minute opportunities this fall and winter in the Caribbean, my recommended cruises include:

Regent Seven Seas Cruises — May 23, 2007, 7-night Alaska cruise, Vancouver to Anchorage (Seward) on Seven Seas Mariner, calling on Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Sitka (on Memorial Day), and cruising Tracy Arm and Hubbard Glacier.

Holland America Line — July 10, 2007, 14-night Northern Europe cruise, round-trip from Amsterdam on Prinsendam, calling on Berlin (Warnemunde), Helsinki, St. Petersburg (overnight), Tallinn, Stockholm, Kalmar, Gdansk (Gdynia), Copenhagen and Oslo.

Celebrity Cruises — October 10, 2007, 13-night New England & Canada cruise, round-trip from Bayonne on Constellation, calling on Newport, Portland, Bar Harbor, Halifax, Quebec City (overnight), Charlottetown and Boston, and cruising the Saguenay River.

Regent Seven Seas Cruises — October 10, 2007, 12-night Southeast Asia cruise, Hong Kong (overnight) to Bangkok on Seven Seas Mariner, calling on Hanoi (Hong Gai-overnight), Chan May, Nha Trang, Ho Chi Minh City (overnight) and Ko Samui.

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line — December 22, 2007, 7-night Caribbean cruise, round-trip from Miami on Liberty of the Seas (like its sister ship, Freedom of the Seas, the largest cruise ship on the seas, featuring an ice rink, boxing ring and on-board surfing), calling on San Juan, St. Maarten and Labadee (Royal Caribbean’s private resort on Haiti).

Ships’ registries: Bahamas, The Netherlands, United States and Wallis & Futuna

ã 2006 Jim Bozarth

Jim Bozarth, ACC, CTA, Cruise Consultant

760-219-8628

Cruise@JimBozarth.com

Affiliated with Cravens Travel, CST# 2051036-40