Four years ago I announced a possible global cruise beginning in 2018. Well that did not materialize because the person who inspired me to imagine that adventure ended his role as president of his university in Japan to take on a more important position. So the cruise was advanced to January of 2020.
The current thinking is a cruise from Honolulu to Singapore, followed by a Star Alliance Around the World ticket in business class. This means that we will end up in Honolulu in the spring of 2021, and will have almost a full year to complete a second set of itineraries to Singapore. You can play with 15 maximum stops, but keep in mind that a "stop" is every time a plane lands. If you continue on a connecting flight to your intended next airport, you will have taken two stops, even though this is one stay.
- Departs Los Angeles for Honolulu on 24 October 2020, and arrives on October 29. Can you board in Honolulu? Maybe not. Need to look into this. This is because I live in Honolulu.
- Heads for Kona on the 30th, then on to Guam.
- Arrives in Osaka on November 12
- Cheju-do, South Korea on November 17
- Tianjin, China on November 19
- Inchon, South Korea on November 22
- Shanghai, China on November 25
- back to Nagasaki, Japan on November 26
- Pusan, South Korea on November 27
- Hualien, Taiwan on November 29
- Kaohsiung, Taiwan on November 30
- Hong Kong on December 2
- Phu My, Vietnam on December 5
- Bangkok Thailand on December 7
- Koh Samui, Thailand on December 8
- Singapore on December 10
For the thrifty, Princess and Holland America are the cheapest. At this time a balcony room starts at $7,679/person. We are looking at lower cost opportunities. If the Diamond Princess we cruised on last month is an indicator, the Grand Princess should be quite acceptable.
I thought I'd avoid even mentioning the Wuhan coronavirus today, but of all the coincidences, the Diamond Princess, with 3500 passengers and crew, just got quarantined, at sea, just off Yokohama, the home port. The afflicted person confirmed with the coronavirus is an 80-year old from Hong Kong. He had visited mainland China only for a few hours on January 10. Flew into Tokyo on the 17th, began to develop a cough two days later and boarded the Diamond Princess in Yokoyama on January 20. He never visited the ship's medical center and got off in Hong Kong on January 25, where he disembarked. He finally sought medical attention on January 30. He is currently in a stable condition. Passengers also disembarked in Okinawa, so a lot tracing in both sites are ongoing.
By the way, the 6,000 passengers on the Costa Smeralda in Italy were de-quarantined, for the two guests had the H1N1 flu virus. The Wuhan coronavirus has now killed 427 people and infected more than 20,000. Still in the range of 2% fatality. The U.S. CDC reported that no one has died of this coronavirus in the USA, but from October 1 to January 25, up to 25,000 died of the "common" flu in the country.
So, returning to the proposed 2020 Global Adventure, from Singapore, Star-Alliance Around the World in Business Class would be my choice. Why? Because I am heading for 3 million miles and have certain advantages. Plus, there are 28 member airlines operating 18,400 daily flights, connecting 1300 destinations in 191 countries.
The last around the world trip I took was almost four years ago and went on for 44 days on Business Class, where the flight part cost around $12,000. Economy class would have been $6000, while first class slightly more than $20,000. Read a three-part final summary:
- two weeks in Japan
- Bangkok, Hong Kong and Seoul
- Munich, Washington DC, Stanford campus, San Francisco and week of golf with Kenji's group
After a few days in Singapore, Singapore Air has the perfect flight to Dubai that leaves at 3:05PM and, nonstop, arrives at 6:45PM. Why Dubai? The World's Fair, or Expo 2020, which begins on 20 October 2020 and ends on 10 April 2021! Four full days should be enough. We need to also visit the tallest building in world, the Burj Khalifa. However by then, the Jeddah Tower in Saudi Tower could be functional and 236 feet taller.
But the Dubai Mall is the biggest shopping mall by land area. By the way, there are 43 different Marriott hotels in Dubai.
What after Dubai? Not sure. Probably a direct flight on Lufthansa to Munich on December 17. There is an eight-day Crystal Christmas cruise from Basel to Amsterdam, departing on December 22. Probably quite expensive in the $6,000 person range, if a room is available. There are other cheaper cruise lines.
Then a few days in Amsterdam. I show the Marriott Amsterdam Hotel because I will be staying in their properties. However, having bought out Sheraton, Marriott now has 6900 hotels featuring 30 brands. in 130 countries. I'll try to find those with an executive club that offers free food and drinks.
Next? Scandinavia? Probably, the sixth leg of the trip will take us back to North America. Perhaps Montreal. Then San Francisco, which is my favorite stop before Honolulu. This will mean that there should be at least six stops available during the Fall of 2021 to take us from Honolulu to Singapore.
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