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Published: April 10th 2019
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This morning we got up at 7:30 after having an extra hour of sleep. We went to the dining room for breakfast. Janet got the Eggs Benedict that she likes so much and David had an omelet with a side of banana nut pancakes. It was a little slower than usual but we were sitting with several other interesting couples. One of the couples has taken this particular cruise 4 times before – we have heard it is a popular “repeater cruise".
About 9:15 Janet went to do knitting in the Stargazer Lounge and David went around the ship to take a couple of pictures. Then he settled down in one of the lounges and read his book until 11:15. At that time the port lecturer gave an explanation of our next port – Western Samoa.
We will have a couple more days at sea before arriving in Apia Samoa. The country actually composed of two islands – Savaii and Upolu – and we will be docking in the capital city. To reach it we are going to have to cross the International Dateline. The line actually does a strange zig-zag back and forth around the islands. This is
Pool at Stern of Ship
at 9:30 in the morning because Samoa is closely aligned with New Zealand and they want to be on their same day while American Samoa is nearby but is closely aligned with the USA so they want to be on that same date. So the two similar countries are a day apart.
Each location is expected to be quite hot and humid – 85 to 90 degrees and near 100%. The local residents follow a relaxed life style and are pretty laid back, so we were advised to be patient and not expect then to rush or hurry. We need to bring a lot of water and sunscreen, a hat and umbrella, but most especially to wear light weight cool clothing. Everything is closed on Western Samoa on Sundays but luckily we arrive on Saturday. But most shops will close at noon on Saturday so they can cook and prepare for Sunday – except our tours will continue to run.
The port lecturer described a number of places to visit and things to see. Since we already have a tour we will go where they take us and not worry about any other place. We were advised to be on one of the
Chess Anyone
pieces are about 2 feet tall outside decks when the ship arrives and watch for native dancers singing and dancing on the pier. Before we depart there might be a fire dancer on the pier for us to watch also.
Afterwards David returned to the cabin but did not have his key card. He had misplaced is somewhere and it was waiting for him at Passenger Services. He then went to a Rum Tasting in the Atrium. This was actually disappointing because there was no explanation of any of the 3 rums, just mini-thimble samples, which the people attacked like a pack of sharks. David got to try one but it was really just a sales incentive to buy whole bottles of the rum.
Janet had settled down in the cabin for an afternoon of working on her needlework project. She watched the new version of the Stepford Wives movie on TV and then some other shows and had an enjoyable afternoon resting. David went to the pool about 1:30 for a dip in the pool, which was pretty crowded today.
The ship has been sailing on a steady course of 202 degrees, heading SSW since leaving Hawaii. We are currently about 6
degrees north of the equator. The Captain announced the noon temperature as 90 degrees. The TV this afternoon had it being cooler at 83 degrees. All David knows for sure is that it was really hot sitting out in the sun today and he had to head for shade after 15 mins of sunbathing. Then it was back to the cabin to read on the balcony. Along the way he visited the ice cream station and got a strawberry milk shake. Our cabin is in the shade during the afternoon and the 20 knot breeze made it comfortable to sit out and read.
We went down to the Atrium to get a coffee and some snacks about 3:15. We had skipped lunch today because it is the 2
nd Formal Dinner tonight. So we were fortified with a couple of slices of cake and cookies until the complimentary canapés were delivered. Then we got changed into fancy duds and went to dinner at 5:00.
Tonight the main choice was between Lobster Tails with Prawns or Chateaubriand Beef Tenderloin. That was a difficult decision! Janet had the first and David had the second. Our meals came with associated appetizers and
Janet & David
at formal dinner desserts, but this evening’s entrée was definitely the star of the dinner.
Afterwards we hurried to the Vista Lounge where the Constance Duo (the Violin & Piano group) was putting on a special show in a large venue. The place was full and the performance was terrific. They could soon become a headliner show moving between ships but we are lucky enough that they will be back in the Piazza day after day for the remainder of our cruise.
David was going to try to go to the Princess Theater for a comedian show at 9:30 – maybe. Anyway, that pretty much completes today’s report. We had a good day and hope you did too.
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