Sea Day

The Captain announced today that his contact in Apia said that the docks were not damaged. As of today we continue on our way To Apia and Pago Pago.

Maui: Molokini Crater and Turtle Reef Snorkel Tour

A beautiful day in Maui.

Word of the earth quake in American Samoa came during our lunch break. The harbour was closed for about an hour until the Tsmami alert was lifted for Hawaii.

Our tour to Molokinl and Turtle town was wonderful. We spent about 6 hours on the tour boat or in the water. ... saw lots of fish and turtles and had a good hamburger/hotdog lunch that was grilled on the back of the boat.

Tour to Rainbow Falls and the top of Mauna Kea

Hilo Monday Sept 28

The approach to Hilo looks a lot like the approach to Roatan. This is surprising because Roatan is only a few hundred feet high and Mauna Kea is over 13,400 feet high. Our tour for today is to go to the top of Mauna Kea, the second tallest mountain in the world, measured from the base to the top. The tallest is Mauna Loa, which is connected to Mauna Kea aand is only 26 miles away. Mount Everest is higher, but not taller because Mauna Loa starts in water about 35,000 feet deep and goes up to 13,400 feet for a total height of 52,000 feet.

We are going in a 13 passenger 4-wheel-drive van, a heavy duty diesel rig with “Jake brakes”. The road is steep and brake failure happens on the way back down.

The tour guide is worried about someone getting altitude sickness. He is passing out water to keep us hydrated and checking everybody. There is oxygen in the van, just in case. When we got to 7,000 feet, he stopped at a roadside shrine so we could acclimatize. The shrine was a rock cairn with offerings to the Hawaiian gods stacked on it. After pictures, we continued on to the visitor center at 9,000 feet, where we stopped for an hour. Souvenir items in the gift shop were quite pricey.

Those of you from Colorado will wonder what is the big deal. These elevations are nothing. I thought the guide was being properly overprotective. That is, until we got to the top and even I got light headed. That was a considerable surprise. I have worked at higher elevation than this, so I thought I was immune, but not so. Going from zero to 13,400 feet in a couple of hours will definitely have its effects.

Libby asked the guide – he is a native Hawaiian – whether there were any natural medicines to combat altitude sickness like the coca tea that is used in Peru. He very quietly told her that there are some poppies that are used. He didn't want to talk about it.

Going up from tropical Hilo to the arctic top of the mountain was interesting drive. The plants changed from tropical to alpine species and then went away entirely. At the top there are no plants at all. Mauna Kea has been inactive for about 6,000 years, but it looks like the last eruption could have been yesterday.

What does grow there are astronomical observatories, about 30 of them looking like odd giant mushrooms sprouting along the ridge line.

The only one that takes visitors is the Keck Observatory. There is a little glass room inside where visitors can see the innards on the dome. Really there wasn't much to see, but the “calibration technician” came walking by and told us what was going on. He gave a really interesting 5 minute talk. We were lucky – few get that kind of insiders view.

We went back down to the visitor center for lunch and then headed back to town and the ship.

Various Pictures

Curt Jack and Cindy. Curt did a great job arranging the Meet and Greet. Richard Joseph and his deputy Julie were in attendance. Tea time.

Sunday Sept 27

Still only 6 for dinner.

We never got a glass of champagne from the Champagne Waterfall. There were just too many people. So we went early to the theater to see the singers and the dancers. We sat on the first row. The show was good.

Jack looked WONDERFUL in his white dinner jacket. We were happy to see so many dressed. Actually there were very few who did not have on Tux or dark suits. The ladies did not look like the same people we had seen out and about all day long. It was a very nice formal night.

For the life of me I can't figure out why we stay so sleepy. But after the show we went back to our cabin set the clock back an hour, watched a Sandra Bullock movie on TV and fell asleep.

We have been to hear all three of the lecturers. Two we really like because of their humor. Our favorite is still Maxtone-Graham, the gentleman who talks about the history of cruising.

We like the cruise director Richard Joseph and his deputy Julie. The ship is sailing fairly level. There is plenty of food and drink from which to choose. There are good production shows and other entertainment.

We watched dancers and string quartet in the piazza and watched the singer Lisa Donovan in the Vista Lounge. There are games, bridge, bingo, art sales and trivia etc going on all day long. We haven't been to the Spa but Vanya and her Mother bought a spa package they are crazy about.

Still, I like sitting out by the pool the best of all...... well, that and taking a nap...... sometimes we combine those activities!! So no complaints... we are happy as clams.

Today is Sunday. Another day at sea. There are church services in the morning and then a typical sea day. Tomorrow Hawaii!! We have a ships excursion to the top of the volcano... 13000 ft high.

Friday Sept 25 / At Sea

There are so many activities scheduled for the day that there is no way to do them all.

Our table mate likes to go to all the different trivia and sit in the back and watch. He gets a kick out of how competitive the teams get. He is retired navy and is active as a Boy Scout director. He lives in California. His traveling companion is his brother in law. The brother in law was a last minute replacement when the lady friend had to have surgery and couldn't make the trip. Marion and John seem like they will be fun .

I went to the crafts class today. It meets open air by the pool. The needlepoint packages are $10.00 each and it is $25.00 for a plate to paint. I was disappointed and again wished I had gotten one on the Splendor where they were free. I remember how much fun Grace and some others had making their needle point pouches.

The enrichment speaker is really fun and funny we were told by the lady sitting to my right at dinner (you can tell that I don't have all the names yet). The lecture in the morning was “Creative Souvenir Collecting” by Douglas Pearson. Now we really need help in that line. I guess we have 100 t-shirts at home.... many never worn!!! And we bought 8 yesterday. 2 for $20.00 t-shirts in bright colors for each port. I picked out 4 as did Jack. We only over lapped on the one for Bora Bora. It is cool with one of those masks on it. We have decided that we will break down and buy another suitcase and just pay the $25.00 to check it home.

We made it to the lecture at 12:30 which was titled Titanic Survivor. Maxtone-Graham gave an insightful talk about the last day on the Titanic. His often humorous talk was taken from interviews he did with survivors of the tragedy.

I've decided that I like the coffee from the Lido fine. We really didn't need the coffee card except for the specialty coffees and the convenience of having coffee at both locations. The pastries at the International Cafe are excellent and the coffee goes just right with them.

A couple of hours by the pool in the afternoon with a nap..... ahhhhh relaxing. We had a nice chat with BC Princess AKA Vanya and her parents Joyce and Ken. Joyce and Ken will be going with us B2B but Vanya has to go back to work. I am so glad I am retired!!!

Formal Night tonight... the Captain makes a welcome speech and there will be a Champagne Waterfall in the Piazza. Then the Princess Singers and Dancers. We will need to be early for the show. Jack likes to sit on the front row so he can see the lady dancers up close.

Sept 23/24

Boarding Day. Sept 23

Jack slept late...... until maybe 10:00 am. I was up at 6:00 am and able to play YoVille one last time!!

Once Jack got up we walked down the street to pick up a few forgotten cosmetics and get a cup of coffee.

We had to check out of our hotel at 11:00am. So after lugging our bags down the 3 flights of stairs and taking a cab to the pier, we waited for about an hour before boarding began. We were on the ship and in our room by 1:30.

The Lido was not crowded so we grabbed a quick lunch and set out to explore the ship. We got as far as the Piazza and the International Cafe where I bought a coffee card. We sat down to compare the free Lido coffee to the coffee from the International Cafe. Jack thinks he may prefer the free …... it could be little stronger and suits his taste more. We both enjoyed the iced coffee we had at the Cafe though. It was perfect after lunch.

Next the important purchase of an Internet plan. Oh how I miss the free Platinum Internet hours on Carnival!! We will have earned free Internet at the end of the cruise... but must pay the .35 a minute until then.

After walking around some more and meeting a few people it was back to the room for a quick nap before dinner. We are at a table for 8. Six of us showed up. Dinner was good. I had prime rib and Jack the roast pork. Dessert was Bananas Foster.

The Welcome Aboard Show was sparsely attended. The ventriloquist was the one on America's Got Talent who's puppets sang better than he. It was a good show.

Set the clocks back an hour and to bed.

Sept 23 /At Sea

We woke to the morning show with the cruise director outlining the days activities. Then we had a light breakfast in The Lido restaurant and passed time until the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet. Curt did a great job organizing the meeting and the cruise buttons turned out real nice.

It was a rough day. We got up too late for aerobics, so decided to read a book. That put us to sleep for a short nap. We woke up too late for the pilates workout, so we read our books which put us to sleep again. We woke up too late for the indoor cycling class. All these exercises are just wearing us out.

We tried to go to the show in the theater after dinner but it was a soprano. Early night.... we were exhausted after all the days activities. Still only 6 at our table for 8 at dinner.

We met about 30 other cruisers at the Pier 47 restaurant last night where we had dinner and a precruise meet and greet. I can tell this will be a fun 60 days.

Our day had started a little less relaxing though! We were up at 5 am to make out 7:30 flight to Atlanta to connect to San Francisco. Keller took us to the airport and we were right on schedule. I asked the curbside check in if we could check our bags with him. He informed us that our flight had been canceled. So the long line at the ticket counted we joined.

Many were being rebooked on a 3:45 flight. We felt sure that would be our fate too..... At about seven we reached the front of the line to find that we were still leaving at 7:30 but on the 6:30 flight. Seems that the 6:30 flight was delayed..... until 7:30 and the 7:30 flight canceled. At 7:15 we boarded a plane that was already full except for the 2 of us. They had been waiting for some time in the hot cabin. We were glad to be there. We took off right on schedule ..... well for us anyway...... the plane was an hour late leaving.

The rest of the trip was uneventfull and long. The guy sitting next to me from Atlanta to San Francisco was sick..... he was coughing and blowing his nose the whole way.... I would have moved but the plane was full.

We ate a sandwich during the flight and took a nap. We got to San Francisco at noon, took the Super Shuttle to The San Remo Hotel.

What a nice surprise the hotel was. I had picked it for price and a recommendation from Trip Adviser. It is an 1890s style hotel with small rooms, bathroom down the hall, no TV or phone and a 3 flight walk up to our room. Everything is fine and really adorable. The walk up the narrow stairs with 6 suitcases was a chore.

After a nap we set out to find the meeting place for dinner and meet and greet. It was a 4 block walk to Fisherman's Wharf and food, drink and lively conversation.

We went to bed early and slept late. We are pretty refreshed and ready to board the Star Princess.

Packing

Packing has become a bit tricky unless you want to spend a fortune on baggage charges. Delta Airline charges $15 for the first checked bag and $25 for the second bag, each way. There are size and weight limitations for both. The checked bag must be less than 50 lbs and less than 62 inches of dimension. So far, the carry-on is free, but must be less than 40 lbs. We are going to go with one carry-on and one checked bag each.

On a normal trip, we would be able to go with just a carry-on, but for 60 days going to climates from the equator to the sub-arctic of southern New Zealand, it takes a bunch of different clothes. Of course, I need my own snorkel mask with the glasses inside and my own fins and snorkel. Naturally, I am taking both the tux and the white dinner jacket, so that takes up a lot of volume, especially the dress shoes. But I will be elegant on formal nights. I wonder what Libby is taking?

After the experience on the South America trip (everybody got sick and the pharmacy ran completely out of supplies less than halfway into the trip), we are also taking an extra-well-stocked bag of remedies and over the counter medication. Not enough, if it goes like that again. This time it is the swine flu scare, so we can't guess what to expect.

We will have many, many sea days for reading. Some ships have a good library and some are pathetic. I don't want to have to rely on the ship's library, so I am taking about 8 pounds of books.

We have it all in the suitcases and they are right on the edge of the weight limits. If we wear the clothes and get dirt on then, we may be over the weight limit coming back.

If we buy any souvenirs, we expect to mail them back from American Samoa. I think those "fixed rate boxes" that the post office is advertising can be mailed from there. We shall see. It might be cheaper to get another suitcase and pay the excess baggage charge

Now to get on with the last minute details.