Samoa and Tonga - by Stan

Stan had done a nice job on these pages - enjoy:-)

World Voyage Report #3 Samoas

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8bStWwJ2x3Pcy15NnI5enVPZ2M/view?usp=sharing

World Voyage Report #4 Tonga

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8bStWwJ2x3PX3ItaGExam1iU2M/view?usp=sharing

We've been enjoying our adventure - having several new friends leaving the ship here in Auckland :(.  I think the ship will have a different feel after more folks leave in Sydney. We'll see friends from a previous cruise in Sydney, so that will be fun.

Tonga and Onwards

Tuesday

We're in a cafe in Tonga - hoping the connection will work - about $ 3.00 USD per hour :).

Well, as it turned out,, that was a 'no - go'. We got our money back in Tongan currency but soon found that the other wireless places we found weren't working either, so I used our spare cash for a small doll for my doll case :)

We walked 5 miles today around Tonga. We walked quite a bit in both Pago Pago and Apia, Samoa, too. Very hot and humid. Today in Tonga is not quite so hot, but the rain showers are just increasing humidity levels, but not cooling off. I actually enjoyed our Tonga stop a bit more than either of the Samoas.

Stan did find a very nice carved walking stick today - should replace the cane that the medical center sold him.  We might need to attach at least one to the tandem we are renting on Friday :).

I have posted on the blog, but it's quick and rambling, and no pictures. We'll see if we have better luck in Auckland.

Wednesday (Tuesday to you :). This date change stuff will follow us until about India, when I think we're more like 12 hours difference (than mid US time).

Today and tomorrow at sea. Stan is reciting one of his poems for a Guest Talent Show this afternoon. I think he's pleased to have the opportunity, but is on meds for a very sore throat.

We had a good day in Tonga yesterday, even with him a bit under the weather - hopefully we can get past these issues (of course we'll have a whole new set of germs get on the ship when all these Kiwis and Aussies get off.). There has been quite a bit of upper respiratory stuff going around the ship.

We have a World Cruise Reception tonight - for those of us on- board at least 80 days. I wonder if they'll have another one with the new captain that gets on in Sydney.

Pago Pago and Stan's blogs

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8bStWwJ2x3PdmtzOFVTNHZhZEU/view?usp=sharing

We had intended to just take the local buses along the way for a bit, bit there was a bus with the National Park Service so we decided to do that. We had been told that we couldn't take a bus there, which was actually false, but the guide did a good job and n we stopped several places along the way - quite a lot less stressful than the local bus would have been (wondering if another would come along or not :).

Nice breezes and some clouds helped mitigate the heat. Beautiful place. Still some evidence of the earthquake and tsunami in 2009, but much had been rebuilt. We wandered just a bit after the tour, but will wait for Apia in Western Samoa to do a little shopping.

Stan is trying to get document uploaded to add to this, but we obviously won't use our ship time again. For whatever reason, the process on his computer is extremely slow.

Hopefully I can post quickly.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8bStWwJ2x3PdmtzOFVTNHZhZEU/view?usp=sharing

in the South Pacific

We've had several days of blue, blue ocean seas and a fair bit of blue sky with an occasional, brief rain squall. It keeps getting warmer and warmer (actually quite hot if you are in the sun for any length of time). We saw a couple of dolphins the other day, a flying fish, and a few sea birds, but otherwise the wildlife has been quite absent since our wonderful day in Maui. Haven't seen many ship's either - the Pacific is a really, really big place.

We are now officially in the South Pacific, having crossed the equator at 9:15 or so this morning. The "polliwogs" have been successfully initiated into the world of "shellbacks" - a sea faring tradition for one's first sea crossing (this is our second sea voyage crossing the equator - we will also cross the dateline again on Saturday, but I don't think there's a ceremony for that, though there is a poem that Stan enjoys sharing).

We also celebrated Shrove Tuesday with pancake races (and pancake eating). This is apparently the British "last hurrah" before Lent - seems like a much quieter observance that Mardi Gras.

In an odd way the ship has become much like the cottages we rent for a bit of time (minus the need to go grocery shopping :). Somewhat odd to realize it will be our home for a few months yet :).

Tonight is the Hawaiian ball, so probably lots of hula dancing in the ballroom. We've been enjoying the evening shows as well as the Insight lectures.

In some ways today had felt like a day of settling in. It seems like an odd thing since we've been on the ship for two weeks. It was the first day without a lot of things to do or see. We did go to the port talk on Bay of Islands, which is a new port for us -  in between laundry cycles - but didn't go to other talks.

This was our first foray into the "horrors" of the laundromat - while they were quite busy, everyone seem pleasant and recognized the need for patience. We decided to take our bag and start at deck eight and work our way down (our deck is the only one without a launderette). We only had to go down to deck six before we found a washer that was almost done and no one waiting, so we waited 10 minutes or so. It was a longer wait for a dryer but we (I.e. Stan) put stuff in, started a timer and went to the port talk. There is no room for extra persons, so, since he has a plan, I mostly leave him to it.

I hadn't tried the pool, so after lunch, I went for a quick dip - it was delightfully cool on a very hot pool deck. Very little sea motion, but right that there were waves in the pool - kind of fun. I had neglected to put sunscreen on before coming upstairs, so spent less that 15 minutes in the sun and lay in the shade to drip dry.

We have gotten into a bad habit of afternoon tea. With an unlimited supply of scones and clotted cream, it's hard to resist (at least I'm mostly climbing the stairs :).

Enroute to Samoa and Tonga

Beautiful partly cloudy day south of Hawaii. Quite warm in the sun, but perfect in the shade or when a cloud comes by.

Too much rich food caught up with me last night, so I had a very lazy morning. Stan risked life and limb to bring me coffee, smoothie and a cinnamon roll from the Lido. He's a bit handicapped with the walking cane that he's not really used to needing. His knee is significantly improved so hopefully by the weekend (we actually only get half a weekend - lose Saturday all together as we cross the international dateline) he won't need it except for stairs.

Yesterday was such an an amazing whale watch day that it seems really quiet today. Probably a good thing :)

Lahaina - Day 3 Hawaii

Today is our 3rd day in Hawaii. We were thinking we might do a whale watch trip here in Maui - Lahaina, but the tenders were delayed quite late due to the seas and decisions by the harbor master. I think the tours have gotten ashore by now (almost noon) but watching the tenders bob up and down in the bay is not enticing us to go ashore. We've seen lots of whales from the ship this morning - most not very close, but there's been lots of activity and Stan saw one breach. We received a new pair of binoculars from Cunard (one of our "world cruiser" perks :), which have been nice to have.

We've been to Lahaina on a previous trip, so have seen the historic town. It's a pretty day (as opposed to the downpourng rain yesterday) but we've come in out of the wind for awhile. Eventually we decided to go into town. We bobbed around for a bit in the tender, but eventually had an hour or so to wander around town. Way too early to start looking at souvenirs, so we got a shaved ice and Stan took flower pictures. We got back about 3:30 and spent a couple of hours watching whales again. We may have seen as many as 100 whales today - amazing antics.

Last night we had a nice Valentine's evening. I had a red sequined top and wore my ivory shawl from Sevilla, Spain, that went very nicely with Stan's white dinner jacket, red shirt and white tie. All the ladies were given a red rose as we entered the dining room for dinner and we had enjoyed afternoon tea and then dancing at the Valentine's Ball in the Queens room.

Stan continues to have some issues with his legs - some kind of inflammation, perhaps an allergic reaction, on both shins, but the doctor is not terribly concerned, so we are continuing on our westward  (actually more southerly for a bit toward New Zealand) trip around the world.

Honolulu

We were late into Honolulu, but had a nice afternoon yesterday with our friend, Kim (she lives here,, but we met on our Antarctic trip last year). Today we are just wandering but had some downpours, so we are drying out at Starbucks (and doing some internet catch up).

Stan's knee is doing better with the anti inflammatory meds and a walking cane from the medical center. The doctor didn't find anything drastic so hopefully a few days of elevators instead of stairs will help.

I hope to upload Stan's first report if he can get it uploaded. This will continue to be a work in progress.

If you are on Facebook you should be able to access this:


https://docs.com/1HRFJ


Hope this works


https://dochub.com/stanhill/O64gRN/1-world-cruise-voyage-begins

https://dochub.com/stanhill/O64gRN/1-world-cruise-voyage-begins

Slow trek across the seas and an injured knee

Beautifully smooth seas today, some clouds in the sky and still cool (not cold) outside. We will pass the halfway point to Hawaii today - we get reports on sea floor mountain formations - kind of interested but the tops are still way below us (like 1000 feet).

Ginger candy was helpful last evening. We went to the comedian show, but we were both falling asleep. I think the Bonine still causes some drowsiness. The show wasn't all that great. Just a bit too rocky to feel great, so we went to bed pretty early.

I'm having issues with a very tight shoulder muscle (probably either from my backpack or lifting the other cases). May have to see the Spa ladies or see if my friend, Kim, knows someone in Honolulu.

Nice breakfast table-mates today (quite talkative so I didn't need to be :) - but it seems like most everyone is only going as far as Sydney or Auckland.

A bit concerned about my data usage on my phone -  supposed to have unlimited data in general, but got a text from T-Mobile about potentially high data charges. Have everything shut down now, but Words with Friends is big data user. Will have to wait until Hawaii to spend time chasing that down.

Tonight is our first formal night, reception with the captain and Cunard Ball. There are definitely dancers on this ship, so we won't really try the ballroom, but we'll still dress for the occasion - black and white isn't too hard to pull off.  It was fun watching the dancers - we did a short turn on the dance floor as well. Those of you who know us know how infrequently we dance :)

The mid-day report from the captain indicates rough seas ahead later tonight and tomorrow :(.  Nice respite today, though.

Last night we got dressed early for the captain's reception then realized it was tonight instead. We decided to basically do formal for dinner (but I wore my masquerade/Elizabethan dress) and wore the masks for the ball and pictures. Did the parade around but then had to do a dance down the dance floor with a stranger - that was a challenge :-).

Today's seas are a bit more rolling, but not as bad as a few days ago (at least so far). Mostly you have to be careful not to bump into people as we all lurch down the hallways :)

We've been going to most of the lectures - yesterday there was a good history program about Japan in the years leading up to WWII. It gave more of the background of Japan in general and it's relationships with neighboring countries and where Pearl Harbor fit into their aspirations.

We've had two good lectures on the seas - yesterday explaining waves and today's program was on whales, which we hope to see in Hawaii.

We've also gone to the port lectures, which are a mix of general information and tour promotion. Not super interesting, but as we get to unknown ports, they should be more helpful.

I've gone to the needlework group a couple of times - making necklaces with ladder ribbon yarn. We're using them as lanyards for our room key cards, and will give some as gifts.

Apparently the captain is doing a bit of maneuvering to keep us in calmer seas, but it means late arrival into Honolulu, so then we're staying a whole extra day and making up time on the way to Samoa. While we have a bit of cloudiness and rolling seas today (Thursday), the air temperatures are nice (70s, I would think). We're sitting in comfy chairs on the pool deck under the upper deck. The water in the pool is crashing from end to end - much noisier than the ocean.

Stan has done something to his right knee, so he's moving very slowly. He's waiting to see the doctor now, too see about a knee brace or a cane-  we'll see.. Those of you who know us, know that we take somewhat active vacations, so this has potential to slow us quite a bit - we'll figure it out.

calmer seas - Day 3

Beautifully smooth seas today, some clouds in the sky and still cool (not cold) outside. We will pass the halfway point to Hawaii today - we get reports on sea floor mountain formations - kind of interested but the tops are still way below us (like 1000 feet).

Ginger candy was helpful last evening. We went to the comedian show, but we were both falling asleep. I think the Bonine still causes some drowsiness. The show wasn't all that great. Just a bit too rocky to feel great, so we went to bed pretty early.

I'm having issues with a very tight shoulder muscle (probably either from my backpack or lifting the other cases). May have to see the Spa ladies or see if my friend, Kim, knows someone in Honolulu.

Nice breakfast table mates today (quite talkative so I didn't need to be :) - but it seems like most everyone is only going as far as Sydney or Auckland.

A bit concerned about my data usage on my phone - supposed to have unlimited data in general, but got a text from T-Mobile about potentially high data charges. Have everything shut down now, but Words with Friends is big data user. Will have to wait until Hawaii to spend time chasing that down.

Tonight is our first formal night, reception with the captain and Cunard Ball. There are definitely dancers on this ship, so we won't really try the ballroom, but we'll still dress for the occasion - black and white isn't too hard to pull off.

The mid-day report from the captain indicates rough seas ahead later tonight and tomorrow :(.  Nice respite today, though.

Enjoyed afternoon tea while Stan napped. Quite nice.

On our way

Sunday - We had two couples at our table for dinner (and two empty chairs). They are both sailing from San Francisco to Sydney, so will leave us after a few weeks. Two are from S. Carolina and the other two are from New Zealand. They seem to be nice folks and fairly well traveled.

After dinner, it was time to sail, so we went to the bowles court high up in front to watch the sailing through the Golden Gate.  A truly iconic way to start a trip around the world for us. We watched for awhile and then the ship started to bounce and roll in the seas as the captain had predicted (a low pressure system will affect our travel for a few days).  We had pre-medicated and seem to be doing ok.

After a few pictures of the bridge we went to find a spot for a daily photo - we'll see how it works. We then watched a bit of ballroom dancing and checked out a couple of music venues before cahuhlling it a night.

The ship is lulling me to sleep with her rolling in the seas. Hope to sleep well. So far, a good start.

Monday - today has been rocking and rolling all day - not really choppy but big swells. We spent the day getting oriented with the ship, went to a couple of programs about Hawaii and to our Cruise Critic gathering to put names and faces together. Pretty casual gathering but that was just fine. Have met several folks from New Zealand. Flying to San Francisco and sailing back is apparently a popular thing. I think there will be a lot of people joining in Sydney. Kind of too bad - I really enjoy the Kiwis, and Aussies, too.

today is the day :-)

So, not sure if I'm excited or just plain nervous. Forecasting 95% chance of rain all day with wind gusts up to 65 MPH winds. At least we know she's there - great location :).

 We don't use taxis much, but even the 4 - 5 block walk with our bags doesn't sound wonderful. We'll head that way in a bit, after a nice afternoon and evening with family in Napa yesterday.

Off we go :)

San Francisco :)

Watching bridge cam as she sails into San Francisco. Brighter skies than I expected after the stormy weather we had yesterday and overnight.

We will be onboard tomorrow :)

The sea lions are active today at Pier 39.