​Top Midway Experiences Of a 154-Day World Cruise

Four Seasons Bali Temple

By GEORGINA CRUZ
Special to North Palm Beach Life
Photos Courtesy of Georgina Cruz

As the saying goes, “time flies when you are having fun,” and before my husband Humberto and I knew it we were at the halfway point of our 154-day world cruise on the 48,000-ton, 700-guest Regent’s Seven Seas Mariner.

Here are some of the top experiences we have enjoyed so far since Jan. 10, when we heard the ship’s whistle saying goodbye to Miami enroute to far away places with strange sounding names. We will not see the Magic City again until we disembark there on June 13.

Cultural experiences – Whenever we take a world cruise – this one on the Mariner is our eighth and have also taken other extended voyages on Silversea, Oceania and Holland America — we take advantage of these types of sailings’ overnights at marquee ports. We have done so by booking overnight or day-room accommodation at the Four Seasons Bora Bora and InterContinental Hotels in Tahiti and Moorea in the past and have found that the cultural rewards of doing so are wonderful.

So, during this world cruise on the Mariner, we did the same thing during our two-day stop in Bali, Indonesia, enjoying a villa at the Four Seasons Bali Jimbaran Bay near the Port of Benoa. Our villa (all 147 accommodations are villas each with a private pool) had views of the resort’s three-mile crescent beach.

We sampled authentic local food and beverages – from the refreshing welcome drink of jasmine, butterfly pea tea for a vibrant purple color, coconut milk and other tropical flavors that we received upon arrival to the freshest seafood including big prawns and other dishes we enjoyed at the resort’s seaside Sundara restaurant.

jimbaran Bay is a fishing village and a popular spot for seafood and sunsets. We learned about Bali’s Hindu religion and practices at the resort’s own lovely temple and about Bali’s arts and crafts in a workshop that hosts exhibitions and hands-on activities. We enjoyed the Four Seasons’ architecture, inspired by a traditional Balinese village, in a hillside forest setting. We delighted in the sounds of forest birds and the beach’s surf from under a pergola in our private pool’s deck and feasted on coconut water right out of big coconuts while sampling tropical fruits including passion fruit and Balinese oranges plus exotic ones we had never seen before like longan – similar to lychee. Delicious!

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Petting kangaroos in Cairns

​Wildlife viewing opportunities – Since Humberto and I love wildlife, we have taken several ship tours so far to hobnob with kangaroos, koalas, wombats and other members of Australia’s fabulous fauna in Taronga Zoo in Sydney and other parks during the 11 days we spent Down Under. During a stop in Darwin, Australia, we took the popular Jumping Crocodile tour – the crocs were not jumping much during our trip but several got close enough to our boat to be able to count the fearsome teeth in their powerful jaws.

in stops in South and Central America we have taken tours that visited parks and reserves where we have seen colorful macaws, peacocks and other birds as well as cheetahs and other animals. Amazing!

Special people we met – One of the greatest joys of travel is meeting wonderful people in different parts of the world. Two unforgettable characters we have met so far include Iune, a Hawaiian lady who acted as her culture’s ambassador on the Mariner, giving us hula lessons, leading crafts sessions where we made kukui nut leis and bracelets, teaching us traditional Hawaiian chants and telling us about the legends of the powerful god Maui and his fish hook that he used to pull the Hawaiian Islands closer to the sun so his mother, who had been struggling to get her things dry on her clothesline, would be able to do so bettter in the sunshine.

Another unforgettable person was our guide Tihoti, who took us around Moorea and signaled when it was time to get back on the tour bus by blowing a long carved wooden instrument called in Polynesian a “pu.” As he guided us around his beautiful French Polynesian island, Tihoti shared bits of his philosophy: “Look at Nature, colors, forests, mountains,” he told us. “Now people just look at their phones.” How true.

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Tihoti with the “pu.”

Experiences on board the Mariner and exclusive world cruise events – We took Tihoti’s advice to look at Nature while on the Mariner, enjoying many amazing sunrises and sunsets so far, particularly one spectacular sunset while crossing the Pacific when we saw for just a second (but one we will remember the rest of our lives), the first green flash we had ever seen.

other highlights of our life onboard the Mariner for the past 77 days have been folkloric shows by local troupes presented on board at various ports – one while in Bali was particularly colorful and memorable; special buffets with ice sculptures, and a couple of exclusive world cruise events including a luau while in Nawiliwili, Kauai with local specialties and show as well as a dinner and Maori folkloric show at the Auckland Museum while in New Zealand. Exotic.

On the second half of our circumnavigation, we will have a third world cruise exclusive event in Cape Town, South Africa – the details of which the line has not revealed yet, other than telling us, “It’s a surprise.”

It is fun to dream of what that and what other surprises will be in store for us for the next 77 days.

Georgina Cruz is a freelance travel writer based in Vero Beach.

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Georgina and Humberto