Cruise

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Dear Globetrotter:

The piers are long gone, and so are the ships that offered romance and adventure. All that is left are the memories of sailing days….

An oppressive heat is in the air. Cars and honking taxis in a serpentine line snake their way under New York City’s West Side Elevated Highway as they inch toward the pier.

After reading an article about the Mobile Passport app, I tried it in 2018. Using the app on my cell phone, I loaded my passport information, took a selfie and, on the night before a return flight to Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) from abroad, completed the normal form required for entry to the US.

18 days, 17 nights aboard 335-passenger ship, Jan. 13-30, 2023. Highlights: Ferry from Dakar, SENEGAL, to Gorée Island for colonial mansions, Maison des Esclaves (House of Slaves)/in Dakar, board ship for islands of Cape Verde/active volcano on Fogo/off GUINEA-BISSAU coast, Bissagos archipelago, home to crocodiles, saltwater hippos/Banjul, THE GAMBIA/in SPAIN’s Canary Islands, Gran Canaria for beaches, archaeological sites. From $6,675 ppdo. Single supp., from $4,029. Hurtigruten Expeditions (Seattle, WA; 866/552-0371, www.hurtigruten.com).

11 days, 10 nights (cruise is 6 nights), May 16-26, 2022. Highlights: In Budapest, HUNGARY, 500-year-old St. Matthias Church, board ship/in Bratislava, SLOVAKIA, 13th-century castle, medieval Michael’s Gate/in Vienna, AUSTRIA, Hofburg Palace, Vienna State Opera, Ringstraße/Wachau Valley/in 2,000-year-old Passau, GERMANY, Europe’s largest church organ in St. Stephen’s Cathedral, disembark/Munich/Passion Play/Linderhof Palace in Ettal.

Tired of being at home and thinking things might be getting back to normal, in April we booked a family vacation for six that seemed manageable: a 7-day small-ship cruise in Alaska’s Inside Passage, departing July 21, 2021.