Blogs from Atlantic, Oceans and Seas - page 30

Geo: 1.79048, -157.357The alarm goes off at 6:30am but I ignore it for 20 minutes. Time to get up, have a light breakfast and prepare to disembark the ship for Fanning Island. Far off the beaten path and almost 1000 miles south of Hawaii, Fanning Island is a remote, beautiful hideaway with just over 1,300 inhabitants. Locals call it "Tabaueran," a Kiribati word meaning "heavenly footprint." The island is an atoll -- a ring-shaped coral reef enclosing a protected lagoon and shaped like a footprint when viewed from above. With its sugar-white beaches and clear, blue-green water, it is a perfect paradise for snorkeling and swimming. We have breakfast and then head to deck 4 to get our tender ticket. We get #30 and they're calling 1-4 now. The twins get some number they're not pleased ... read more

Geo: 6.66461, -156.797We have two sea days before we get to Fanning Island, an atoll about 1000 miles south of the Hawaiian Islands. The weather is partly cloudy but always warm and humid, mid 80s. I'm determined to get the blog caught up in these two days but there are so many things going on all the time, it's easy to become distracted. Today we cross the International Date Line and instantly lose Friday, October 16. We go from the 15th to the 17th just like that. Now, tomorrow we'll get that day back but it becomes quite confusing. We have no Friday but two Saturdays. Since we're traveling east to west, one would think we would cross once, lose a day, then cross back later, gaining it back. But our route isn't a straight line ... read more

Geo: 20.9614, -150.82Same story. Cloudy but warm. Seas choppy. We set our clocks back still another hour. That makes 4 hours behind Pacific time. Mom checks out a sale on the Lido. T-shirts, bags, hats, same old stuff and generally $10. I stop at the desk to get an update on my $250 shipboard credit. Now they need me to get bring my own laptop so they can view a PDF of my account showing the stock portfolio and my name on the same page together. Apparently, the statement doesn't carry my name through on every page except the first. They can't just use my USB drive with the doc on it so I will return after 6pm to see Daisy. She's nice and I understand that it's a Carnival issue, not Holland America. A matter ... read more

Geo: 27.6835, -130.43We're enjoying our 2nd morning with an extra hour of sleep. I see that Internet service is still out. It's Tuesday and we'll pass the point of no return later today on our way to Hilo. We have six full days at sea between San Diego and Hawaii and this is day 3. How much excitement can I generate while traveling within the confines of a cruise ship, a small one at that? I would describe it more like a retreat. We see those people who venture from their cabins hanging out around the pool and spas, library, dining areas, bars and assorted presentations about our upcoming destinations. While there's plenty of things to do for us, it's difficult to find things "to write home about". We need to generate some excitement to entice ... read more

Geo: 31.0153, -120.762This was the the day I promised to catch up on all the blogs and submit them for your review. Nope. First, we needed to get up early, say 7. Instead, we both woke up at 10am. I needed the morning to load pictures, check grammar and send out the blogs for 3 days. We were going on a kitchen tour at 10:30am. None of this happened. All night the ship was rocking and rolling. This morning is no exception. Our captain blames El Niño. The weather is cloudy, cool and windy. No one is out on deck. Many are hiding out in their staterooms. Karen isn't doing well with this movement either. She's moving slow and we barely get to breakfast. Because of the late hour, the main breakfast area is now closed ... read more