Blogs from Pacific, Oceans and Seas - page 3

Suva, Fiji has a piece of my heart. Bula from Fiji. This is an amazing chunk of earth. The natives are very proud and loving people that instantly grabbed my heart. Today we were transported in the best island busses I have seen in a long while to the village of Navua, where we were all treated like family. We were escorted into the gathering house to witness a Kava Ceremony, also know as the yagona. The men and women were segregated from each other. They explained that is because they are a male dominated society. And made no apology for it even though some women were not to pleased with their claim. After the ceremony they provided us with entertainment that included them dancing and chanting. I find the further south we travel the native ... read more

Pago Pago America Samoa Talofa- from Pago Pago. Pronounced Pango Pango. The "G" is pronounced with the "N" sound as well. November 9th, 2012is a rainy day on the island. Our ship arrived early in the morning to many waves from happy smiles from the locals with energetic music that made you want to dance. I found America Samoa a conflicted island with much potential. The inhabitants are either Catholic or Mormon LDS. But yet hold their island heritage and belief of their gods in their hearts. They can only marry with permission from their local chief. They wish for higher education but only have a community college with a 2 year Associate Degree. And with very limited enrollment. They praise their island to be pristine, but there is garbage every where. They don't have a ... read more

Ship life Here we are a week into our 19 night voyage and everything is in full swing. Everybody has pretty much found their groove. This is why I think a seven night cruise is too short. It takes a few days to settle in. The passengers are now accustomed to the ship and where things are. People know one another now. I can walk from one end of the pool deck to the other and catch people waving and smiling to me. The crew now addresses me by "Miss Eileen" which I prefer, opposed to "Madame", which I loathe. I can walk up to most bars now and they know I am going to want my caffeine free diet coke. The crew's mantra is "let me take care of you". Giving me permission to be ... read more

There is no question that people have strong political convictions. Even on holiday. And when there is a presidential election happening, those feelings get escalated. Not a good combination, especially when you are at sea for a five day run and alcohol is abundant. Things are getting very heated. I have tried to steer clear of those conversations but somehow I end up getting sucked in. I feel there is nothing more I can do except wait for the results. I have cast my vote and mailed it in, as my shipmates have. Even if you change your mind, your vote is cast, so arguing is a moot point. It is my impression that Americans are in the minority on this ship. The English, Kiwis and Aussies are very interested in our election and ask many ... read more

Today the ship the highlights are, a "Beyond the Podium" speaker will talk about Trans-Atlantic Contact before Columbus. There is also a galley tour and a "Freedance" that will benefit The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. For that you pay $15.00 and receive a tee shirt and $10 goes to the foundation. Here we are in the middle of the Pacific Ocean steaming, okay diesel ing, our way to Pago Pago Samoa. It is a clear and beautiful day out. Actually the weather could not be better. Warm and clear with a beautiful breeze and a few puffy white clouds floating in front of the sun from time to time to just give you a comfortable respite from the sun. I can walk around the ship and look out and see nothing. Literally nothing, but ocean. It ... read more

Polliwog to Shellback One of the reason we decided to choose this cruise itinerary is because we will become "Shellbacks". When I was becoming certified as a cruise agent through CLIA I learned about it and said that, that was for me. So some of you maybe asking, "what is a Shellback"? A Shellback is a person that sails over the equator. There is a ceremony, "The Court of Neptune". It is held by every ship on the high seas whenever they cross the equator. One of the attributes I love most is, it does not matter where you rank, if you are but a Pollywog you must participate. From meek young ensign to admiral of the fleet. I have read about the different types of ceremonies. Some of the hard core naval ones consisted of ... read more

November 1 I haven’t blogged for a couple of days since we were cruising and basically read, slept, ate, read, slept and ate some more. The weather has been lovely but Hot, Hot, Hot and the seas calm. We did attend a show, a combination of a comic violinist and a wonderful concert pianist. The pianist was wonderful and her selection of material was familiar and accessible to a wide audience. I am enjoying a delicious bowl of orange slices and ML is off for a scalp massage. We are now on our way to Indonesia. Yesterday we visited Darwin. The temperature was between 80 and 90 but the humidity was very high. We took the shuttle into town. It is a lovely small city, impeccably maintained, no graffiti and parks manicured. We stopped in the ... read more

Monday – 10/29/12 5:00 am “Good morning, this is your Captain speaking from the bridge. The alarm you just heard was the fire alarm. A fire has been detected in the Security Office on Deck 2. Fire Station 2 crews, man your stations. No action is required of our guests at this time.” “This is your Captain. Please evacuate cabins 2622 to 2657 and 3622 to 3657. All guests in these cabins please assemble in the Atrium.” “This is your Captain speaking from the bridge. There are no signs of fire detected in the area. We are now trying to determine where the smoke in the corridors is coming from. We will keep you informed.” “”This is the Captain. The smoke in fire area two resulted from a filter that failed. It has been replaced and ... read more

Hello from the Island Princess, cruising in the Pacific again. We are back in the Central Time Zone after resetting the clocks last night. Before we describe today’s activities, let’s explain that we have added photos to yesterday’s blog AND have added some additional thoughts to that entry which we did not remember last night. There is even more to say about Costa Rica, but your will have to settle for what’s in the blog now. Oh well, one more thought. Costa Rica turns out to be directly south of Pittsburgh. A lot of people would have thought it was further west, but that’s what the guide said. Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. Also where we were is almost the geographic center of the Americas (tip of northern Canada and tip of southern Chile). Also, just before we sailed ... read more

We wanted to go to sea in a ship and today was our chance to experience it when it felt like a real ocean instead of a lake. We had strong winds all day and you could definitely feel the ship’s motion either while you were sitting or when walking around. The noon report from the bridge said that it was 86 degrees and we were sailing southeast at 24 miles per hour, aided by a 52 mph wind from the north. However that produced a lot of whitecaps most of the day and everyone walked with a distinct sway back and forth due to the roll of the ship. Having said all that, it wasn’t bad enough to make you sick, but it is certainly more motion than we’ve had any other day. We went ... read more