-
Arrival to Nawiliwili Bay on Kauai. Spectators on the foredeck A short walk from the ship gets to this pleasant beach and some shopping where we picked up some new Aloha playing cards as an upgrade to our cribbage action. Our train ride around the Kilohana Plantation included a stop to feed the livestock who were eagerly awaiting us. The pigs were very enthusiastic about the corn tortillas we were given to through into the melee. And the cow shows off his impressive tongue as he awaits his cube of alfalfa. The Plantation has an impressive assortment of fruit and vegetable plants as well as natural plants. The estate residence now has an elegant restaurant, bar, and shops. Mai Tai and Luau action at the end of our Plantation tour. Off to Honolulu. Lots of good info from our tour guide and bus driver en route to the Pearl Harbor stop. Here’s the Iolani Palace, home for Hawaii’s final monarchs who got dethroned by Americans in 1893. Here’s the state capitol building – the only or one of the few with no dome Pearl Harbor. Always good to remind ourselves of big events in history which brings up reflections on current affairs and potential future affairs. Honolulu skyline from our deck. And a sunset departure from Honolulu Harbor -
This is Palos Verdes sunset taken while ship was still tied up at dock in LA Harbor. 
Here we are on our first tender ride – destination Santa Barbara 
And thar she blows! 
Our tour guide telling us about the Santa Barbara Courthouse – lots of history. Earthquakes knocked the building down a couple of times! 
Other side of the Courthouse 
The welcoming committee 
Here’s the view of our ship, the Viking Sky, from the tower viewing deck at the courthouse. 
Lots of neat pedestrian streets in Santa Barbara 
And now we’ve arrived at the Santa Barbara Mission, up on the hill and with lots of history. 
And off to the high seas! Here are a few pics along the way. 
It was a five day cruise to get to Hawaii so plenty of time to explore the ship which was all very nice – entertainment every evening in the auditorium; various dining and cocktail bar options, exercise rooms, spas, and bridge- playing sessions every morning and afternoon! 
At the aft end of the walking track around Deck 8. Infinity pool below. 
One of our cocktail bars. Good for a cribbage game or two and Laphroaig on the rocks or G&T 
A model of our ship. Our room is two floors below the dark windows and about 20% back from the bow. -
This blog is to share our adventure of cruising from LA to London on a four month cruise.
As most of you followers know, Marty and I (Charlie) are enjoying life here in Suncadia – located in Cle Elum, Washington. We are 69 and 72 years old, Charlie almost retired from structural engineering and Marty fully retired from nursing. We have four wonderful sons and four wonderful daughters-in-law, and eight wonderful grandkids. So that’s that.
Here’s the winter scene at our Suncadia home – best to be following the sun!
The Cruise
The cruise is a wild hair to see what we can of the world while we can. We leave from Long Beach, CA on January 6 and fly home from London on May 6. Our itinerary looks like this, although we are getting on board in LA and joining the folks who got on in Florida. And Viking deleted the Yangon and Haifa stops due to “situations” in those areas.
And, as a post-cruise update, the original itinerary was changed due to the Red Sea Houthi situation to have us head south around Africa rather than going into the Mediterranean. Attached are maps of the original and revised itineraries.
Here’s the original route through the Red Sea and Mediterranean 
And here’s the revised itinerary around Africa
Charlie and Marty’s World Cruise 