GWV 2014 — Cancel Africa, it is now a Caribbean Cruise!

He who has achieved success has lived well, laughed often and loved much. ~~ Bessie Anderson Stanley

Because of several passengers’ concerns regarding the Ebola virus in countries near (not in) where we were originally slated to dock, Gambia and Senegal, we will be going to St. Lucia instead. We will also miss Ascension Island. This announcement was made after we left Walvis Bay. Had I known this, I would have left the ship in Cape Town, as would many of the other passengers. We are paying a high price for essentially a Caribbean cruise. We could have used the money for a safari or extended time in Africa and flown home.

We will, however, dock in St. Martin where the CDC has issued an advisory regarding chikungunya, a mosquito-borne illness resulting in high fever and joint pain. Almost 800 confirmed cases were reported the first two months of 2014 in St. Martin. Apparently this is not a concern!!

If there were concrete reasons to skip Ascension Island, Gambia, and Senegal, I think more interesting ports (such as those in Morocco or even the Canary Islands) would have been more acceptable rather than fighting the spring break mobs off Carnival cruise ships and every other mega vessel in the Caribbean.