Los Angeles

Post # 1: Los Angeles

Crystal Symphony here we come! I can't believe that embarkation day is tomorrow! We've been planning this voyage for so long and it's hard to believe that it has arrived! Our time in Los Angeles has been great as is our stay at the Hotel Sofitel in Beverly Hills. The hotel has been quite comfortable with a beautiful view of the hills from our window and, my favorite, a rain shower in the bath. I should mention that when we checked in, the amount of luggage completely overwhelmed the bellman. I think he said it was some kind of record!

We've loved our time here visiting with our son, Ben, and old friends. Unfortunately, we've been dining out and enjoying great restaurants and food types that are unavailable in Memphis---just what we need before a 71 day cruise!

The first segment of our South American cruise sails from Los Angeles (San Pedro) to Valpariaso, Chile with stops in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; Caldera, Costa Rica; Guayaquil, Ecuador; and Lima, Peru. This segment is from December 7, 2008-December, 22, 2008.

The second segment from December 22, 2009-January 9, 2009, sails from Valparaiso to Buenos Aires, Argentina with the following itinerary: Puerto Montt, Chile; cruising the Chilean Fjords; Punta Arenas, Chile; Cruising Cape Horn; Ushuaia, Argentina; cruising Antarctica and Elephant Island; Port Stanley, The Falkland Islands, UK; Puerto Madryn, Argentina; Montevideo, Uruguay; Buenos Aires, Argentina. We will spend Christmas Day cruising the Chilean Fjords and New Year's Eve cruising Antarctica.

The third segment from Buenos Aires to Miami is from January 9, 2009-January 25, 2009. Our itinerary is: Buenos Aires, Argentina; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2 days); Bahia de Salvador, Brazil; Fortaleza, Brazil; Bridgetown, Barbados; Grand Turks, Turks & Caicos; Miami.

Our fourth segment is January 25, 2009-February 5, 2009 with the following intinerary: Miami; Tortola, BVI; St. Maarten, Netherland ; Antilles; St. Barts, French West Indies; Aruba, Dutch West Indies; through the Panama Canal; and Caldera, Costa Rica.

The fifth segment from February 5, 2009-February 16, 2009 is the same itinerary from Caldera, Costa Rica to Miami in reverse.

There are 38 sea days on this cruise, and sea days are wonderful on Crystal. I'll try to highlight the activities and speakers on future postings.

We hope our family and friends will join us on this journey!