life at sea

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well i am finally cruising!

spent a night in san francisco and had a nice meal with caitlyn. my hotel was right beside china town which was beautifully decorated with lights and red lanterns for the chinese new year celebrations.

i boarded the ship the next day and spent the afternoon unpacking and exploring the arcadia. we had a champagne sail away from the aft of the ship in the evening. beautiful to see the city all lit up at night. we passed under the golden gate bridge. from the top deck, deck 11, it almost feels like you can reach up and touch the underside of the bridge.

so four days at sea until we reach waikiki. the first 2 days were very rough. the mighty pacific ocean. i managed to cope with the help of sea bands and gravol. our captain is captain ashley cook. captain cook! but let's hope he doesn't meet his demise with the pacific natives.

my dining companions are from the uk and all very friendly. they all got on in southampton and are going only to australia. so after australia i will be seated with a new group. the majority of the passengers are couples in their sixties. a younger crowd than other cruises i have been on. mostly british and australian. a few americans. and when i was at the airport in vancouver i met 3 other canadians from north vancouver who were also going on the cruise. i think we are the only canadians on the ship. i met a lady from yorkshire. this is her 18th world cruise. never married and has a suite on the ship with her own butler!

days at sea can be as laid back or as busy as you like. every day we get an itinerary of everything that is happening on the ship. lots of activities such as dance classes, art classes, different guest speakers, concerts, sporting activities and movies just to name a few. in the evening there are musicals, quiz games in the bars and dancing at the disco. meals are very good. last night we had an indian night. lots of curries. i didn't do much the first 2 days. just tried to find my sea legs. on our second day at sea there was a medical emergency on the ship. the captain announced he needed the passengers assistance in finding a blood match for an ill passenger. anyone with o+ or o- blood type was to come forward. he was also going to set course at full steam ahead so to get to waikiki early and get the ill passenger to medical treatment as soon as possible. so at 23 knots we were really rocking and rattling. if anyone was watching the live web cam of the ship you may have noticed we arrived in hawaii in the evening instead of the next morning.

so today i am sitting at an outdoor starbucks writing in my blog. wifi on the ship is 12 pounds sterling a day! that is almost $20 canadian dollars. and it is not always reliable. i have been here before and seen pearl harbour and diamond head. so i think after i finish writing i will just wander around a bit. it is the perfect temp. today. sunny and not too hot with a nice breeze. the locals are wearing jackets. tomorrow at noon we leave for pago pago on the american samoan island. another 4 days at sea. but it should be much smoother.

here's to smooth sailing!



cruisin susan

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Photos

SAM_1098
view from cabin

SAM_1112
waikiki harbour

Comments

[Corinne]

Glad to hear from you!
Wow, it all sounds amazing Susan! I’m so glad you’re getting to experience it. We are suffering in sub zero temps with snow-for the next two weeks, so your timing on leaving was perfect. I’ll call your mon tomorrow and make sure she’s okay. I hope the next leg of your journey is smooth sailing and that you continue to have a great time. Looking forward to your next post. Take care xoxo

[Tammi]

Hello Susan from Canada
Looks like you have a pretty nice cabin! Have a wonderful trip. Tammi :)