Anchorage resident’s close to-the-environment journey is a vacation lover’s aspiration job

Cella Baker landed in Anchorage a short while ago just after a amazing spherical-the-entire world adventure. Though she did not technically circumnavigate the world, she certainly did not sit still making her way from state to country.

“I’ve been to 140 nations,” she stated. “The very first point I do is understand how to say ‘hello’ and ‘thank you’ in the area language. On this vacation, I believe we went to 46 international locations.”

Baker’s journey begun past November in Aruba. She had been employed by Oceania Cruises to get the job done on a spherical-the-earth cruise. But the ship, the Insignia, was laid up during the COVID pandemic. Aspect of her occupation was to get it ready to sail all over again.

“We were channeling Jules Verne,” she said. “But rather of likely about the earth in 80 days, we included a different 100 times.”

The Insignia, crafted in 1999, is 594 ft long and holds 656 passengers and 400 crew members. Soon after her retrofit in Aruba, the ship sailed to New York to pick up its 1st travellers on Dec. 21, 2021.

Baker’s career aboard the ship is a “Oceania Club Ambassador.” She sells long term cruises to guests on board, manages a loyalty system and guides excursions in port. Some attendees on the ship get the total 180-day cruise, while many others sail unique segments of the itinerary.

“This is my retirement position,” she mentioned. “I retired two a long time in the past and went to sea!”

Oceania Cruises has presented the spherical-the-entire world trip due to the fact 2015. “We have some company who have been six instances,” said Baker.

“We managed COVID truly well on board the ship, but there were at any time-switching protocols on shore.”

These “ever-switching protocols” led to some re-routing in the center of their journey.

After leaving Los Angeles on Jan. 6, the Insignia designed it as far as French Polynesia prior to turning around. Lots of of the Asian ports-of-call still ended up closed to cruise ships.

“We did a U-flip in Tahiti,” explained Baker. “We went again through the Panama Canal and used about a month in the Caribbean. From there we went to Europe, Israel, the japanese Mediterranean, the Greek Isles, around Italy, France, Spain and Gibraltar. Then we sailed up to the Baltic region.”

Baker effortlessly remembers the spur-of-the-moment itinerary adjustments and all of the scheduling that required to be completed on-the-fly.

“When you journey for the duration of a pandemic, you have to be flexible. You simply cannot have established anticipations,” she explained.

But the new port calls yielded some wonderful encounters.

“We had been one of the really to start with ships allowed in Istanbul,” claimed Baker. “I escorted a night time tour to the Blue Mosque space in the course of Ramadan. We saw family members come and unfold out picnic blankets on a large 100-acre backyard garden region for a celebration. And it was a celebration just about every evening (for the duration of Ramadan).”

An additional journey when the ship known as in Italy was truffle hunting in Tuscany. “We went out with two men and their puppies. And yes, the canine did the digging,” she said.

Cruising in the Atlantic, the Insignia named in Funchal, Madeira. Just off the coastline of Africa, the island is managed by the Portuguese and is identified for its port wine.

Baker went with a group on a cable car or truck up to the leading of a mountain on the island. From there, they went again downhill in sleds with comfortable chairs. “It was the most pleasurable,” claimed Baker. “Each sled experienced two gondoliers that steered the sled down the steep streets.”

In Montenegro, which is north of Albania and south of Croatia, the cruise line organized a tour of an olive grove. When they arrived, the farmer achieved them and they experienced an olive-oil tasting in the subject. From there, the group went to the farmer’s home for a wine tasting.

Other eating gatherings were being more extravagant. “We had supper less than the sea,” claimed Baker. “We went to the decreased level of the National Aquarium in Copenhagen,” she explained.

“Most visitors are in their 60s and 70s,” explained Baker. “Of the 250 round-the-world cruisers, there have been some mother-daughter pairs, as perfectly as some not long ago-retired friends. Also, there were some who offered everything and made a decision to go all over the globe. Other people offered their properties, place almost everything in storage and applied the excursion as a sabbatical.”

The guests on board came from 15-20 nations, in accordance to Baker. The crew customers came from 30-50 nations around the world. “It’s like a minor United Nations on board,” mentioned Baker.

Wanderlust usually has been section of Baker’s tale considering the fact that she began operating in the journey business enterprise. That contains positions in resorts, at vacation businesses and with cruise lines. “This is a wonderful retirement job. I get compensated to see the planet in a way that I could not find the money for. And that would make it all the a lot more intriguing,” she mentioned.

What’s upcoming? Well, Baker is scheduled to get the job done the 2023 itinerary for Oceania. “Next yr, we’re likely to Antarctica,” she stated. “Next calendar year will be my 3rd check out to get all-around the entire world. The cruise in 2020 acquired canceled and this calendar year we had to make a U-flip.”

The 2023 itinerary also integrated some Alaska ports: Dutch Harbor, Juneau and Ketchikan. Oceania offers a 198-day itinerary leaving just right after Xmas, on Dec. 28, 2022 from Miami. Staterooms are available from $47,199 for every human being.