Welcome to Mandi and David's first blog. Our cruise departs at 16.30 pm on the 12th October 2007. The maps show our route and the ports are listed underneath. Hopefully this will be the trip of a lifetime. We will be gone for nearly six months. The ship we are travelling on is called the MV Van Gogh (pictured). It is a small cruise ship without many facilities . The ship does not have much in the way of communications (apart from a satellite phone for emergencies) so we will need to spend some time in internet cafes keeping in touch with friends and family via email and this blog.
1. Falmouth
2. Gibraltar
3. Valletta, Malta
4. Port Said for Cairo
5. Transit Suez Canal
6. Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt
7. Salalah, Oman
8. Cochin, India
9. Columbo, Sri Lanka
10. Phuket, Thailand
11. Penang, Malaysia
12. Singapore
13. Pandang Bay, Bali
14. Darwin, Australia
15. Cairns, Australia
16. Noumea, New Caledonia
17. Suva, Fiji
18. Alofi, Niue
19. Rarotonga, Cook Islands
20. Papeette, Tahiti
21. Nuka Hiva, Marquesas Islands
22. Guayaquil, Ecuador
23. Transit Panama Canal
24. Oranjestad, Aruba
25. Castries, St Lucia
26. Bridgetown, Barbados
27. Funchal, Madeira .
World Ports of Call - West to East 2008
1. Falmouth
2. Ponta Delgada, Azores
3. St John's, Antigua
4. Pointe-A-Pitre, Guadeloupe French Caribbean
5. Willemstad, Curaau, Dutch Caribbean
6. San Blas Islands, Panama
7. Transit Panama Canal
8. Manta, Ecuador
9. Cruise Past Galapagos Islands
10. Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands
11. Papeete, Tahiti
12. Bora Bora, French Polynesia
13. Nuku'alofa, Tonga
14. Suva, Fiji
15. Auckland, New Zealand
16. Bay of Islands, New Zealand
17. Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
18. Devonport, Tasmania
19. Fremantle for Perth, Western Australia
20. Port Louis, Mauritius
21. St. Denis, Runion
22. Durban, South Africa
23. Cape Town, South Africa
24. Jamestown, St Helena
25. Georgetown, Ascention Island
26. Praia, So Tiago, Cape Verde
27. Funchal, Madeira
About The Ship
2009 onward: Limassol, Cyprus Builder: Wärtsilä Turku Shipyard, Finland Cost: $ 25 million Yard number: 1213
Launched: 18 October 1974
Acquired: 30 June 1975
Identification: IMO 7359400 Status: In service General characteristics (as built)
Class and type: Belorussiya class cruiseferry Tonnage: 16,331 GRT Displacement: 3,004 DWT Length: 156.27 m (512 ft 8 in) Beam: 22.05 m (72 ft 4 in) Draught: 5.90 m (19 ft 4 in) Depth: 16.31 m (53 ft 6 in)[6] Decks: 9 Ice class: ICE-C
Installed power: 2 × Wärtsilä-Pielstick 18PC2V diesels combined 13240 kW Propulsion: Two propellers Speed: 21 kn (38.89 km/h) (service speed) Capacity: 1009 passengers
504 passenger berths
256 cars Crew: 216 General characteristics (as Salamis Filoxenia)
Type: Cruise ship Tonnage: 15,402 GT Displacement: 2,452 DWT Decks: 7 (passenger accessible)
Capacity: 506 passengers (795 maximum).
