Top Sail Journeys

Thursday, October 27, 2011

This was sent to me by my brother, it's too intriguing not to share!

Salt Mine – An Astounding Subterranean Salt Cathedral

Deep underground in Poland lies something remarkable but little known outside Eastern Europe. For centuries, miners have extracted salt there, but left behind things quite startling and unique. Take a look at the most unusual salt mine in the world.

From the outside, Wieliczka Salt Mine doesn’t look extraordinary. It looks extremely well kept for a place that hasn’t mined any salt for over ten years but apart from that it looks ordinary. However, over two hundred meters below ground it holds an astonishing secret. This is the salt mine that became an art gallery, cathedral and underground lake.

Situated in the Krakow area, Wieliczka is a small town of close to twenty thousand inhabitants. It was founded in the twelfth century by a local Duke to mine the rich deposits of salt that lie beneath. Until 1996 it did just that but the generations of miners did more than just extract. They left behind them a breathtaking record of their time underground in the shape of statues of mythic, historical and religious figures. They even created their own chapels in which to pray. Perhaps their most astonishing legacy is the huge underground cathedral they left behind for posterity.

It may feel like you are in the middle of a Jules Verne adventure as you descend in to the depths of the world. After a one hundred and fifty meter climb down wooden stairs the visitor to the salt mine will see some amazing sites. About the most astounding in terms of its sheer size and audacity is the Chapel of Saint Kinga. The Polish people have for many centuries been devout Catholics and this was more than just a long term hobby to relieve the boredom of being underground. This was an act of worship.

Amazingly, even the chandeliers in the cathedral are made of salt. It was not simply hewn from the ground and then thrown together; however, the process is rather more painstaking for the lighting. After extraction the rock salt was first of all dissolved. It was then reconstituted with the impurities taken out so that it achieved a glass-like finish. The chandeliers are what many visitors think the rest of thecavernous mine will be like as they have a picture in their minds of salt as they would sprinkle on their meals! However, the rock salt occurs naturally in different shades of grey (something like you would expect granite to look like).

Still, that doesn’t stop well over one million visitors (mainly from Poland and its eastern European neighbors) from visiting the mine to see, amongst other things, how salt was mined in the past.

For safety reasons less than one percent of the mine is open to visitors, but even that is still almost four kilometers in length – more than enough to weary the average tourist after an hour or two. The mine was closed for two reasons – the low price of salt on the world market made it too expensive to extract here. Also, the mine was slowly flooding – another reason why visitors are restricted to certain areas only.

The religious carvings are, in reality, what draw many to this mine – as much for their amazing verisimilitude as for their Christian aesthetics.

One remarkable carving is a take on The Last Supper. The work and patience that must have gone in to the creation of these sculptures is extraordinary. One wonders what the miners would have thought of their work going on general display? They came to be quite used to it, in fact, even during the mine’s busiest period in the nineteenth century. The cream of Europe’s thinkers visited the site – you can still see many of their names in the old visitor’sbooks on display.

These reliefs are perhaps among some of the most iconographic works of Christian folk art in the world and really do deserve to be shown. It comes as little surprise to learn that the mine was placed on the original list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites back in 1978.

Not all of the work is relief-based. There are many life sized statues that must have taken a considerable amount of time – months, perhaps even years – to create. Within the confines of the mine there is also much to be learned about the miners from the machinery and tools that they used – many of which are on display and are centuries old. A catastrophic flood in 1992 dealt the last blow to commercial salt mining in the area and now the mine functions purely as a tourist attraction. Brine is, however, still extracted from the mine – and then evaporated to produce some salt, but hardly on the ancient scale. If this was not done, then the mines would soon become flooded once again.

Not all of the statues have a religious or symbolic imagery attached to them. The miners had a sense of humor, after all! Here can be seen their own take on the legend of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. The intricately carved dwarves must have seemed to some of the miners a kind of ironic depiction of their own work.

The miners even threw in a dragon for good measure! Certainly, they may have whistled while they did it but the conditions in the salt mine were far from comfortable and the hours were long – the fact that it was subterranean could hardly have added to the excitement of going to work each morning.

To cap it all there is even an underground lake, lit by subdued electricity and candles. This is perhaps where the old legends of lakes to the underworld and Catholic imagery of the saints work together to best leave a lasting impression of the mine. How different a few minutes reflection here must have been to the noise and sweat of everyday working life in the mine.

Friday, October 21, 2011

River Cruise & Safari in Africa

The mighty Zambezi river, a luxury cruise ship and a visit to Victoria Falls and/or an African Safari. Hold on to your hats, AMAWaterways is introducing a new product that will blow you out of the water! Photos and more info to come!

Monday, October 3, 2011

Putting Things Off

I'm a great procrastinator. I can find a million things to do rather than make plans for myself ... one of the most difficult things for me to do is to make a decision about taking my own vacations (although they're usually "busman's holidays"). I've been wanting to do a "Christmas Markets Cruise" along the Danube for a couple of years now. I have the air mileage on American Express, what keeps me from booking? Indecision. The inability to get out of my own way.

This weekend I had a "come to Jesus" moment. At 10:30 on Saturday morning my neighbor started screaming for help (remember I live in Florida where windows and balcony doors are frequently open). She was screaming like the building was on fire or someone was attacking her. I rushed over in my nightgown...it was Saturday morning, I was kicking back and relaxing ... to find that her husband had fallen and hit his head. He was face down on the floor of the balcony, bleeding heavily. The neighbor handed me the phone and I dialed 911. Long story short, our terrific Key Biscayne Fire & Rescue dept. was there in under five minutes (which seemed like hours) and he had the best treatment you could ask for. He's fractured his neck in two places and has several stitches in his head. Fortunately there is no paralysis. His prognosis is good - there was a lot of praying going on.

Moments before all had been as normal. Now their lives - at least for awhile - are turned upside down. It can happen just that quickly. Fortunately they had recently returned from a long dreamed of vacation by motorcycle from Miami to Boise, Idaho, so that wasn't lost to them.

I have so many stories like this, the couple who planned to cruise to Hawaii after they retired (but he suddenly died from a heart attack), my Mom's planned trip to Australia which was cancelled when my brother passed away. I could go on, but you get the idea.

I'm going to book that Christmas Markets cruise this week. I hope some of you will come with me. I think it will be special!

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Yet Another Thing Not to Do On a Ship

Now this was a tour boat, not a cruise ship, but it's still horrifying - why do people do what they do? The parenthetical comments are mine.

Tour boat passenger tosses boy into water to toughen him up

Horrified passengers looked on as a California father told his crying seven-year-old son to “toughen up” and ended up throwing him into the harbor on a tour boat, according to police.

The former Marine sergeant Sloane Briles, 35, was arrested for child endangerment and resisting arrest.

According to police "The father hit him several times and then threatened to throw him overboard if he didn't stop crying The crowd on the boat became very angry at the father for hitting the kid and extremely angry when he threw him overboard." (Where was the boat's captain during this abuse?)

The father eventually jumped in after the boy—who was not an expert swimmer—but he had already been rescued. The father become so combative during his arrest that deputies claimed they had to tackle him to the ground.

The boy was released unharmed into the care of his mother, who divorced Briles in 2007. He was only “roughhousing” with the boy, she told the New York Daily News. (Who does she think she's kidding?)

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Don't Try This Yourself

Rick Ehlert is a 44 year old California man who owns a 50-ft yacht and has boating experience. Last November he was aboard the Holland America Ryndam, enjoying several cocktails. In this frame of mind he stepped through a door that was clearly marked "Authorized Personnel Only" and found himself at the stern of the ship where the mechanism to raise and lower the 18-ton anchor is accessed. Ehlert then spent the next 12 minutes going through an elaborate process that he knew would result in a free-fall for the anchor.

Ehlert didn't know what was going to happen after the anchor dropped, but it could have been catastrophic. The anchor could have caught in hard ground on the ocean floor and caused the ship to turn suddenly - tipping radically and causing furniture, glassware, china and people to topple over throughout the ship. Or the ship's hull might have ripped open, flooding at least one compartment and doing millions of dollars in damage. The anchor could have destroyed miles of coral reefs, or it could have just reached the end of its chain and broken off.

Everything Ehlert did was caught on a surveillance camera - and so there is no way for him to deny his actions. His only excuse is that he was drunk, but he knew what he was doing. Now Ehlert has thrown himself upon the mercy of the court by agreeing to plead guilty to a felony charge of attempting to damage the ship. The plea agreement means that Ehlert could face as many as 20 years in prison and/or a fine of $250,000. (How about some court mandated alcohol counseling?)

Fortunately there was no damage to the ship, which carries 1260 passengers and 560 crewmembers. Crewmembers were able to restore it to its proper position within a matter of minutes.

Is being drunk an excuse for his actions? It took him 12 minutes to accomplish this deed. He wasn’t too drunk to protect himself with gloves, find a wrench and operate the system. But he was drunk enough not to consider the possible catastrophic consequences, in terms of both lives and property, of his actions.

What do you think?

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Here We Go Again - Hurricane Season

Okay, one more time...

The official Atlantic hurricane season lasts from June 1 to November 30. Hurricane season is not a reason to cancel cruise plans or to slip into panic mode. Here's why a cruise may be a better choice than an island destination during hurricane season:

Suppose you have chosen a lovely Eastern Caribbean island on which to vacation in say, September. To your regret this lovely Eastern Caribbean island winds up in the direct path of a hurricane while you are enjoying your week in a tropical paradise. Unfortunately, resorts and islands tend to remain fixed objects (at least prior to the hurricane) and can not pick up and move to a safer location. Two things may, and probably will, occur:

You will be evacuated home - end of room service and frothy drinks with pineapple slices, umbrellas, fancy glasses, maraschino cherries and little plastic swords or
Your resort will batten down the hatches, usually the island will lose electricity, experience coastal flooding and sustain significant wind damage.You will enjoy the remainder of your vacation without air conditioning, hot meals, icy drinks and running water. The roof of your room may leak.

On the other hand, rather than limit your vacation to one island, for your vacation you choose to take a week long cruise to the Easter Caribbean, visiting several islands. Once again, that nasty old hurricane comes barreling towards the Eastern Caribbean, presenting an unsettling forecast for your itinerary. In this case, ships having a tendency not to stay rooted where they are, the captain and cruise line will make a decision to change the itinerary to avoid the storm. You'll still be on board a beautiful luxury cruise, the drinks will continue to pour, the a/c to work and wonderful meals will be served in the dining rooms. You will have top class entertainment, the casinos will remain open, shops will be selling souvenirs and sunblock and the ship will function as usual. True, you may not get to visit the islands on your original itinerary, you may spend an additional day or two at sea rather than in port. But 99% of the time your vacation will not be cancelled, you will not be evacuated home and you will not spend the remainder of your holiday wearing a garbage bag that has been re-purposed as a rain slicker.

Now let's say you've made your choice to cruise but you can't get to your cruise or island destination, (which it turns out was not in the way of the storm, but the storm is heading for your home state of New York or North Carolina) because your airline or cruise line stops offering service for at least 24 consecutive hours due to severe weather. This is very similar to Newark Airport shutting down at Christmas because of a blizzard - but that was soooo last year. THAT'S WHY YOU BUY INSURANCE WHEN YOU MAKE YOUR BOOKING.

To maximize vacation protection from storms and hurricanes, travelers should buy insurance when they make their travel plans and before a storm or hurricane is announced. Once the National Weather Service issues a warning for a storm or hurricane, it is considered a foreseeable event. Policies purchased on or after the warning date do not cover losses related to that event.

So continue to book, continue to travel, take advantage of some extremely good pricing available RIGHT NOW for this fall, winter and even next spring. Don't panic. Don't hide in the closet.

And if the above still doesn't reassure you, book a European River Cruise - the Danube is lovely this time of year!

Monday, August 15, 2011

Proving to Myself That Cruising is Still a GREAT Value

As cruise lines have begun to "unbundle" services and found ways to charge additional for some services that were pretty much included in the days of yore, I've gotten to be a bit cynical and wondered if passengers were still really getting great value for their money.

Recently I went on a road trip from Jacksonville, FL to Syracuse, NY with my Mom to bring some family heirlooms to one of my nephews. Think basic road trip with a geriatric parent in tow (well, actually I didn't tow her, I let her ride in the front seat). Here are cost breakdowns for just the northbound leg of the trip (yes, I did bring her back too):

Holiday Inn: $95.15
TownePlace Suites $151.51
Residence Inn $165.39
Grand Total $412.05

Add in fuel costs (the automobile of choice we drove gets about 30 mpg) of $170.26 and it cost us $582.31 for the oh-so-fun experience of driving across America's interstates and listening to books-on tape. Note I am not including meals, entertainment (well, books-on-tape were from the library) but I promise there were no showgirls, comedians, trapeze acts, room service, sexy legs contests or other activities. I even had to make my own sofa bed in some of the above hotels (rather than share a King with Mom - where's my cabin steward?!). Three days of driving with Mom essentially came to $206 per person. Not including Diet Cokes and Cheetos.

So I think I can stick with the argument that cruising is still a very good value given that you can get three night cruises starting from $249 (depending on the season). Sign me up for the next 3-night cruise to Syracuse (or Denver for that matter).

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Real Questions, Asked by Real Passengers

Here are a few honest-to-goodness questions from passengers to onboard staff collected by Cruise Directors over the years (the answers were not actually spoken, but it was difficult not to laugh).

Q. Does the crew sleep on board?
A. Of course not, late at night a water taxi picks them up and takes them home!

Q. Do these stairs go up OR down?
A. Yes!

Q. Does the ship make it’s own electricity?
A. No, don’t you see the long extension cord trailing behind the ship?

Q. Why doesn't my cabin look over the ocean? I paid for an oceanview!
A. Because we haven't left the dock yet.

Q. Which is the sunny side of the ship?
A. The captain spins the ship around daily so everyone gets an even tan

Q. Which elevator takes me to the front of the ship?
A. Ask the elevator operator when you get on, he will take you anywhere you want to go.

Q. What do you do with the ice carvings after they melt?
A. We re-freeze the water and use it for frozen drinks.

Q. What time is the midnight buffet?
A. Usually around 11 PM or so. We tried doing it right after breakfast but most people weren’t real hungry.

Q. How do we know which pictures are ours?
A. The people who look totally clueless . . . . those are probably yours.

Q. Is this island totally surrounded by water?
A. No, part of it is surrounded by sand, but it’s all clearly marked

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

It's Past Their Bedtime, (But Who Cares? We're On Vacation!)

Carnival Cruise Lines, the family friendliest cruise line (okay, next to Disney - but, hey, Carnival has 25 ships while Disney has three and a half) has announced Camp Carnival Night Owls. Kids camps that will take care of your kids while you dance, gamble and karaoke the night away until as late (early?) as 3:00 AM!

Called Camp Carnival Night Owls, the program will offer supervised activities from 10 p.m. on for three age groups.
For age 2 to 11 years, the program will operate until midnight and cost $13 per child with a 15 percent gratuity. The program will operate until 1 a.m. for those age 6 to 8 years and cost $20 with a 15 percent tip. And for kids age 9 to 11 years old, the program will end at 3 a.m., when children can be delivered back to their staterooms. That program will cost $33 plus the 15 percent. Participating children will also receive a gift backpack.

As the cruise lines learned years ago, when the children are happy, EVERYBODY is happy. So here's just one more reason to take the family cruising. There's something for everyone - even the littlest night owl.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Kids Are Free!

Well, actually I've heard that it costs over $200,000 to raise a child to age 18 in the US today, but that's not where I'm going here. There have been a whole host of opportunities lately to promote vacations and cruises under the "Kids Sail Free" and "Kids Stay Free" banner. The latest of these showed up in my mailbox today under "Kid-Tastic Florida Vacations from GoGo Worldwide Vacations (bookable through me!):