By Ardenia Jones Terry
The Truth Travel Column
When I heard Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines’s television advertisement for the Ultimate World Cruise, it piqued my interest because it advertised tours to 11 World Wonders. The cruise line’s Wonders were a mixture of man-made and natural structures.
The World Wonders included in the cruise were the Chitzen Itza Pyramid, Christ the Redeemer, Machu Picchu, the Roman Colosseum, the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal, Petra, and the Great Pyramids of Giza. The first seven are considered to be part of the current man-made world wonder while the Great Pyramids of Giza are in a category all of their own.
The Natural World Wonders were Iguazu Falls, the Great Barrier Reef and the Temple of Artemis.
As a Pickett Elementary School student, I read a book on the Seven Ancient World Wonders at Mott Library and promised myself I would see all the World Wonders when I grew up. Before this World Cruise, I had seen six of the seven World Wonders, plus The Great Pyramids of Giza. I had not seen Machu Picchu in Peru.
Chitzen Itza (Yucatan, Mexico, 435-600 CE) Chitzen Itza was a city built by the Mayans. I first visited Chitzen Itza in the 1990s when tourists could climb the 365 steps to the top of the El Castillo Pyramid. Today, visitors are not allowed to climb the Pyramid. Surprisingly, Chitzen Itza resembles the Step Pyramid of Djoser in Memphis, Egypt. Booths lined the path to the pyramid, allowing opportunities for conversations with the locals to purchase food and souvenirs.
Christ The Redeemer (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1931 CE) Christ the Redeemer is a 98-foot statute. It is the youngest of the seven Wonders of the World. Princess Isabel of Brazil introduced the concept of a Jesus Christ figure to honor Brazil’s abolition of slavery. Similarly, the Statue of Liberty was also erected and given to the USA by France for the abolishment of slavery. In 2004, when I visited Rio and the statue, I found it difficult to reach. It required taking a bus and an elevator, walking 200+ steps, and taking an old train that chugged up the mountain, picking up locals and tourists. I remember thinking, I can envision the Toledo Blade headline, “Local Toledoans Fall Off Mountain in Brazilian Train.”
I am happy to report that a new train takes you directly to the top of the mountain and Christ the Redeemer. The view from the top was once again breathtaking, offering a panoramic picture of Rio de Janeiro and Sugar Loaf Mountain. However, it is too close to get a total view of the statue, which is best done from the harbor. We ended up having a scrumptious lunch in a Brazilian restaurant, enjoying Passion Fruit Mojitos and Brazilian Guarana soda while sharing a table with cruisers from Singapore. One of the Ultimate World Cruise highlights was bringing in 2024 on New Year’s Eve in the harbor of Rio de Janeiro with 45 minutes of electrifying fireworks dressed in white like the Brazilians enjoying Champagne.
Colosseum (Rome, Italy, 80 CE) I have visited the Roman Colosseum four times and have always discovered something new. It is an amphitheater in the center of Rome, famous for gladiator fights. Tickets are needed to see the interior out of fear that too many visitors will cause the structure to deteriorate further. However, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the Vancouver Central Library downtown was built to resemble the Roman Colosseum and reminds you of Rome.
After the Colosseum, we also visited St Peter’s Basilica Square (Vatican and St Peter’s Basilica). I wanted to purchase a book on the three Black African Popes but could not find one in the Vatican.
The Great Wall Of China (China, 700 BCE)The Great Wall of China is one of the largest construction projects recorded in history. There were three excursions from the ship for those going to The Great Wall of China. Cruisers could visit the Great Wall, the Great Wall, and the Forbidden City or select an overnight trip to Beijing. We chose the overnight trip in Beijing with a private tour of the World of Flight, which had just opened in Beijing. Beijing is three hours inland from where the ship docked.
In 1995, I spent three weeks in Beijing and went to the Great Wall at Badaling, where a ski lift took people to the top, which was necessary since the steps were irregular. This time, approximately 30 years later, I went to the Great Wall at Juyongguan, which had reconstructed steps leading to the top of the wall, restaurants, and souvenir shops.
It was modern and contemporary, with a great view of the wall. Some cruisers visited this wall section at night, for it was well-lit. After the visit to The Great Wall, a private driver arranged by the hotel picked us up to go to the World of Flight. Michael Jordan opened four stores that were completely devoted to his Jordan brand. The stores are in Seoul, Beijing, Tokyo, and Milan. We also went to the store in Tokyo. The stores in the two cities had already outgrown the buildings. They were overcrowded, and Beijing’s store had only been open for two days. The merchandise was also less expensive in the Beijing Store.
After we made our purchases in the World of Flight, we checked into the Beijing Regent Hotel and had dinner at the Beijing Morton’s Steakhouse before retiring. We headed to Tiananmen Square, Mao’s Museum, and the Forbidden City the next day. We re-boarded the ship in Tianjin, China, and shared stories about our adventure to The Great Wall of China. Once you see The Great Wall, you understand why it can be seen from the Space Station.
The Taj Mahal (Agra, India, 1648 CE) In 2019, I went to the Taj Mahal and was struck by the sheer beauty of the marble mausoleum and its reflective pool. Michelle Obama, on her visit to the Taj Mahal, was photographed sitting by the reflective pool. The feeling of amazement and wonderment returned on this visit. The excursion from the ship was a three-day event. We flew in a chartered plane from Mumbai to New Delhi, had dinner, and stayed at the hotel.
During the first evening, we visited the New Delhi Hard Rock Cafe. The next day, we rode the bus for three hours to Agra, India, to see the Taj Mahal. The ship had arranged a private entrance for us, making our entry much more effortless. Once inside the grounds, you see the structure’s enormous size as you come through the arches of the Great Gate, which serves as an entranceway to the mausoleum.
Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned the project on the death of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. There are two burial tombs in the structure; the one at the top, which you climb steps to reach, is where Emperor Shah Jahan’s wife, Mumtaz, is supposed to be buried. In reality, both the Emperor and his wife, Mumtaz, are buried on the ground floor of the Taj Mahal, and their tombs are not accessible to the public.
This time, I chose to visit with various tourists who were seeing the Taj Mahal for the first time and my group members rather than explore the grounds again. Often, people from other countries want to take photos of/or with African Americans from the USA. I willingly participated in the photos when tourists asked me during this visit to the Taj Mahal. It was a good day.
The great poet Robert Burns said, “The best-laid plans of mice and men go oft awry.” So, plans to visit five of the World Wonders were changed due to the Middle East crisis, citizens protest and strike and poor weather conditions.
There were concerns about getting too close to the Middle East Crisis. Before we sailed, the cruise line had already decided not to stop in Israel. The circumnavigation around Africa meant we did not see the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, Petra in Jordan and the Temple of Artemis in Turkey. However, we added five Ports of Call in Africa to the delight of many passengers.
Petra (Wadi Musa, Jordan, 7000 BCE). Petra is an ancient city whose buildings are of rose-colored rock architecture. It is one of the oldest cities in the world, and it was made famous by the Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade film, which showed the Treasury building. Since the entrance to Petra is down a narrow two-mile passage that leads to the Treasury Building.
In 2019, I enlisted a driver and a horse-driven cart to take me the two miles. They now have golf carts to assist tourists. The passage opens to a city with many stone structures to explore. Following the visit to Petra, we had lunch at the Petra Moon Hotel property adjacent to Petra, went shopping for souvenirs, and then returned to the ship.
As I mentioned earlier, I had seen six of the Seven World Wonder. The only one of the Seven World Wonders – the man-made World Wonders – which I had not seen was Machu Picchu. Unfortunately, I was to be disappointed and would not be able to see this world wonder on this cruise.
For the reasons why, and my thoughts about the Great Pyramids of Giza and the three natural world wonders on this trip, please read my article next time in The Truth’s April travel section.