June 2006

In the March ’06 “Person to Person” section, on page 130 Kathleen Nichols asked about planning a one-week trip to Hokkaido, an island at Japan’s extreme north. I would like to give some suggestions.

For our extended visit to Mongolia in June-July ’04, we asked Tim Todd of T.E.I. Tours & Travel (Box 23784, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523; 800/435-4334 or 925/825-6104 or www.teiglobal.com) to arrange our largely custom, 29-day tour.

For years, I have used as a travel watch a Casio Databank*. It offers several advantages.

A customized, private tour to Mongolia was created for my wife, Darlene, and me for Aug 1-17, ’05. Featuring nomadic culture and Buddhist heritage, with an extension to the South Gobi desert, it was arranged by Original World/Spirit of India (Box 446, Mill Valley, CA 94942; 888/367-6147 or www.originalworldjourneys.com) and used Active/Adventure Tours of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

by Marvin Herman & Judy Licata, Delavan, WI

Since 1988 I have taken 52 voyages on 34 cargo ships of all types, some for as long as four months. This is in addition to 32 cruise ship voyages.

My husband, John, and I took the “Island Sanctuaries” cruise with Cruise West (Seattle, WA; 800/426-7702 or www.cruisewest.com) in January ’06.

We took a 12-day cruise to the Black Sea on Oceania Cruises’ Insignia in September ’04*. Rates ranged from $2,299, inside, to $3,399, verandah, and included airfare from select cities. What a good cruise it was, especially at that rate.

Oceania’s ships Insignia and Regatta were purchased from the now-defunct Renaissance Cruises. Like on Renaissance sailings, there are no formal nights; all nights are “country club casual.”

I took the “Transpacific Odyssey” cruise aboard Princess Cruises’ Diamond Princess, booked through Vantage Deluxe World Travel. I embarked in Seattle, Washington, on Sept. 23, ’05, and ports of call included Ketchikan and Juneau, Alaska; Petropavlovsk, Russia; Muroran, Japan; Pusan, South Korea, and Nagasaki, Japan. I flew home from Osaka on Oct. 13.

My wife, Sandra, and I were fortunate to experience two great cruises in 2005: one on Seabourn Cruise Line’s Seabourn Pride from Fort Lauderdale to Istanbul, March 15-May 6 (Category B3 suite at $17,394 per person), and the other one on Radisson (Regent) Seven Seas Cruises’ Seven Seas Mariner from Vancouver to Hong Kong, Sept. 7-Oct. 10 (Category G suite at $11,456 each). Both cruises were booked via Sharon Whiting at Cruise Specialists (Seattle, WA; 800/544-2469 or www.csiseattle.com).