Day 51 Disembarkation

Well disembarkation went relatively smoothly today. J walked off with his bags as he had to claim his scissors that were confiscated before we got on the ship!  (They were deemed too long!). I had two bags plus my wheeled carryon and backpack - so I was using the assistance of the ship to move my big pieces of luggage and thus was waiting for my colour “Grey 1” to be called. J met up with V and R off the ship and they texted me and told me to just walk off and not wait for my colour to be called!  The cruise line gives priority to their passengers in suites, on excursions, with four and five star status - so lowly travellers with early flights don’t have much hope of making it out early. 

Customs in San Diego proved to be relatively quick. I left the ship around 8:20 am and moved through customs within 30 minutes. I had to wait about 15 minutes for my luggage. 

Quite the operation to find sort luggage!

We walked outside and immediately grabbed a cab to the airport. A taxi from the pier to the airport was $20. 

We saw lots of familiar faces and friends on the flight to Vancouver - which was the starting point of this cruise for about 400 of the 1600 passengers onboard. 

We had a quick turnaround for our flight home. So now we are home - with the water turned on and furnace running. It is good to be home!!

I feel privileged, lucky…. spoiled to have been on a 50 day cruise. There is much to appreciate in life - home sweet home is one of them!!

Until next time folks!  Thanks for following along on this blog. Fifty days on a cruise ship was the longest vacation we have ever taken. We are happy and thankful to be home!

Day 50 At Sea

After a wonderful 50 day cruise, today was our last day at Sea.  We will disembark in San Diego tomorrow.

 

We set an alarm for 7 am to ensure we get our body clocks on track.  J had packed his bag last night, I used the time before the 10 AM Cruise Overview and Crew Farewell to get a solid start on packing my bags.  Cruise Director, Ian Page, gave us an overview and reminded us of all the ports we visited.  The Captain gave a few words saying how proud he was of this cruise.  Then all (or most of the crew) came onstage - the stewards, waiters, guest services, chefs….and they received a prolonged standing ovation for all their hard work.

 

Ian summed it up with the well known phrase, "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the places and moments that take our breath away!”  A number in the audience had tears in their eyes, myself included.  How very true that statement is.  

Crew onstage accepting thanks. 

 

We intended to stay in the Mainstage Theatre to watch the “Origin Story” - the 150 years of history of Holland America.  As it happened, our three friends who joined us for the dripping wet day in Fakarava (with whom we had so much fun!) were seated just in front of us.  I asked if they wanted to see our pictures, they said yes, so I ran to the room to get my laptop.  We shared our 12 minute slideshow - then air dropped pictures back and forth!  (That is one of the beauties of apple devices).

 

In fact, once we watched Origin Story, I realized I had seen it (J had not) but it has so much information included, it was good to watch again.  We walked out of the theatre talking with one of our Fakarava friends, and learned she had contracted COVID on the ship (likely from the Fakarava tender) and had been in quarantine - but was now free and clear and able to move around the ship.

 

We had one last lunch in the dining room that was excellent.  After lunch, J went to bridge and I went to the Future Cruise Booking desk.  There are incentives to book onboard the ship as they give you onboard ship credits for your next cruise so I followed up on that matter.  I checked in for tomorrow's flight (only because I was reminded to do so by running into friends who were waiting for access at the business centre to print boarding passes).  Then final packing ensued and I weighed my bags!  I have 1.2 pounds to spare on my big bag!  I do have a smaller (newly purchased) bag that I can add to if the airport weighscale doesn’t agree.

 

Our last supper was really wonderful with lots of smiles and laughs and delicious food!  We will miss our waiters and our friends!

Our waiters Juma and Wibi - two of the best in the business!

We feel privileged to have been on this wonderful journey for 50 days - spoiled indeed.  Back to life in Canada - where the weather won’t be as mild and we will surely miss our room stewards who keep our stateroom spotless and our waiters who have made these meals so effortless for us.  Life is good and we are thankful every single day!

Day 49 At Sea

Today’s activities didn’t go as planned - but there was anticipation about the ship just the same.  We went to eat our breakfast by the Lido pool as usual this morning and found a plethora of towel animals surrounding the pool!  Evidently the stewards had been busy late last night!

Animal towels by the pool!

 

J and I really wanted to hear Holland America’s origin story (all 150 years of it!) on the Mainstage at 11 am.  In order to be sure we got a seat, we went and listened to Dr. Karen Woodman’s presentation on language.  She referred to the French Immersion experience in Canada so it was at least somewhat interesting as our two boys paritipcated in the French Immersion program for 7 years each. 

 

Ian Page was acting as narrator for the Holland America story and he stopped it after technical difficulties arose syncing the video clips and getting the audio to work.  Ultimately, they determined it was not an immediate fix, so the same program will be offered tomorrow morning at 11 am.

 

It was at noon when the Captain made his regular announcement, that he announced they would be making a medical evacuation off this ship this afternoon.  Keep in mind we are 450 nautical miles from San Diego - so this was going to be serious business.   Serious enough for the patient to need to be taken off the ship before our arrival in San Diego in less than two days time.  The Captain advised us that two helicopters and a refuelling plane would flying 5 hours from San Diego to carry out the medical evacuation and that a crew member was involved.

 

As we left our stateroom for lunch we ran into our two room stewards, Agust and Made (maw day) and asked them about the situation.  We were told that generally when people are air lifted off it is due to a burst appendix.  We ran into R & E at lunch (who had organized our Castaway Island excursion) so we sat with them to eat.  I ran back to the room to get my laptop so that we could share our 12 minute slideshow of our pictures of this trip.  We showed our pictures and air dropped a couple of them to R’s phone - the first he had ever received!

 

We continued to sit and talk about the medical evacuation, knowing that the helicopter was going to evacuate the patient from the Sea View pool situated at the back of deck nine, the Lido deck.  The helicopter will not land, but it will hover above the ship and drop down a rescue person (or two) and a cage to load the passenger onto the stretcher, then lift the stretcher up into the helicopter.  We walked back to the Sea View pool area and found all the tables, chairs and loungers tied up so they wouldn’t blow around with the powerful forces of the chopper blades.  This was around 2:10 pm and the captain was back there talking to different officers and guests.  I knew for sure then that the Ask the Captain anything session was cancelled for 2 pm on the Mainstage.  He had far more important matters to attend to!  

 

We got shuffled away from the back Sea View pool at that point.  R & E decided to come to our room as we had a verandah on the right side of the shipping - facing east where we expected the helicopters and plane to appear.  And that point one fixed wing aircraft was circling the ship at that point.  We then saw another fixed wing plane arrive, then the two helicopters.  They all circled the ship a few times - the Captain had told us he would drop our speed to 8 - 10 knots and keep moving during the evacuation.  We then saw one helicopter circling on our side (starboard) and figured out it was an Air Force helicopter.  It kept looping in a circle just on the starboard side for maybe 30 minutes.  We then went to their stateroom on the port side and found the other helicopter making loops on that side of the ship.  Without being able to see the back of the ship anyhow, we didn’t really see the action of retrieving the patient.  R & E decided to try to go up to the Lido deck to look through the windows, but crew were stationed at the doors on the ninth floor and wouldn’t let them get off the elevator.  So we returned to our staterooms - and eventually saw two helicopters head north and east to begin the five hour helicopter flight back to San Diego.  After that, the Captain made an announcement that the patient had been successfully evacuated with no issues onboard.  So now we hope the patient is successfully treated at a San Diego hospital.

Helicopter involved with medical evacuation. 

Photo shared by ship the day after this evacuation!

We had our penultimate supper with our usual waiters (Juma and Wibi) and our friends R & C seated next to us.  We then headed to the Zuiderdam Singers and Dancers show: All for Love.  I find their shows to be really lively and entertaining.  J headed back to the room to pack his bag.  I stayed at the Billboard Onboard to enjoy the collaborative piano players for a set, then returned to the room to finish my blog!  Tomorrow will be our last day at sea. 

Day 48 At Sea

Today we were busy, for a day at sea!  Today we had a Mariners lunch at sea with the Captain at 11 am. This is the third lunch he has had with guests on board. Yesterday R and C told us they arrived at 10:58 for their lunch and the dining room was packed. So we were in line at 10:45 am and were admitted by 10:50!  We ended up sitting with two friends and meeting two more that they knew!

I had Caesar salad for a starter and sole for my main. The one dessert offered was key lime pie. Everybody found a Holland America coaster beneath their napkin. So the delft pottery coaster is like our loot bag at the party. 

The Captain addressed the group saying once again that this was their longest voyage since COVID and that presented the crew with unique challenges. He was most proud of the fact that it was a safe voyage, despite the weather. It wasn’t the rain that he found challenging, rather, the wind. He said 7 and 10 day voyages become routine and they are quite easy to facilitate, the longer cruises just present additional challenges - like no internet!!

After lunch V and R from Vancouver and J and I went up to the Crowsnest and shared pictures with one another. V had a USB stick to make this easy!  We had one too - but it seemed compatible with J’s computer at home, not my laptop on the ship!

J played bridge, then I caught the tail end of a Jurassic Park movie in the Rolling Stone lounge. 

We then had a really lovely Italian dinner at Canaletto with Rose as our server again. 

Tonight I went to the MainStage to enjoy the final performance of Jukebox Rogues!  We both went to the game show “Call my bluff” after that and it provided lots of laughs!

Only two more days at sea and then our wonderful vacation will come to an end!

Day 47 At Sea

We had our final clock shift last night - it was for 30 minutes forward - so we are now on San Diego time where we will end the cruise. 

This morning’s coffee hour talk was with our Entertainment Director, Philip. He told us how many performers - singers, duos, comedians etc are shared between the Holland America fleet. Two of those performers were transferring from the Noordam and moved to four different ports of call intending to board our ship.  They never could board our ship for the number of cancellations of ports due to the weather. One of the challenges of the job!

He also said that Port to Table and Tech for Travel are two entertainment series that are being prepared for release on the ship in January. 

We then went to hear Dr Karen Woodward give a presentation on the MainStage with Photography tips for travel. She is a Canadian and a bit quirky and clearly moves around to different ships presenting for Holland America. We didn’t come away with anything we didn’t already know but you win some you lose some. 

We have been spotting a lot of flying fish off our Verandah today! From up here they look tiny but they fly a long distance! Sometimes they are solo sometimes there is a whole school of them!!

I went to the Lincoln Centre Stage where Ian interviewed the quartet. It was interesting to hear their audition process!  First round play a few prepared pieces - then sight read. Then a second interview having you perform with others in a quartet who are also auditioning- to see how you work in a group. Then wait a few months before you hear. If you are successful, you then practice for two weeks in New York with your quartet then go aboard your ship for a four month contract!

Our internet is still limited so I can read some texts and emails but I can send very little out!

Tonight was our final dressy dinner and I chose 3 starters rather than a starter main and dessert!!

After dinner we watched the “The Second Beat Exotic Marigold Hotel” then watched hi-lights from a Manchester United soccer game!!

Day 46 At Sea

We awoke this morning unsure if we had changed time last night. So we turned on the TV and saw it was 6:50 AM so John said well I am going to sleep some more of the clocks didn’t change. So shortly after 8 am we decided to go for breakfast in the dining room. That is when the entertainment director came on and announced it was 9:10 AM!  What??  We had missed breakfast in the dining room and I wanted to attend a coffee hour talk at 9:30 with four female team members. So we hurried up to the lido and I had a quick cold breakfast then went down to the second floor to hear the coffee hour chat. Good thing they offer tea too!

The coffee chat was with Maja (Guest a services Manager), Natalie (Shore Excursions Manager), Twinkle (Food & Beverage leader) and Chantal (Future Cruise Bookings).

These ladies offered such insightful comments that we stayed to chat for 70 minutes when these conversations usually last 30 minutes. 

A couple of noteworthy things I will share with you.  

1. Maja was offered jobs with both Princess cruise lines and Holland America initially. Princess offered her $700 per month. Holland America would pay her $70 per day. (Maja had to ask, “ I am sorry is that One- seven or seven-zero dollars per day?). HAL would pay her $2100 per month in 2004 when she joined - a huge difference!
2. Maja also said that this cruise in particular has been really difficult. So difficult that she was prepared to hand in her resignations a couple of times during this 50 day cruise. Remember her job is to manage the front desk and hear all the complaints!  And each time she was wanting to quit, a guest happened to come up to her and thank her for all that she was doing. So remember people, a simple thank you goes a long way!
3. The internet outage affected employers as much as guests. Two of these women have children back at home and they were unable to have their daily conversations with their kids while the internet wasn’t working on the ship. 

After the coffee chat we ordered coffee and tea to our room to enjoy sitting on the balcony. J thought a carafe of coffee would be appreciated so we ordered fruit and cookies to have a coffee break on our Verandah!

For lunch we found two couples seated at a six person table. We knew one couple through cruise critic and the other through bridge and they are Canadians so we sat in between them!  They didn’t know one another when we joined them but we introduced everybody and had a lovely long chin wag about travel stories!

After lunch J went to bridge and I watched a movie “Family Squares” which will not make the top 100 list but was appropriate for this demographic! One matriarch of a family died and the story is about the family left behind bickering after her death, then finding common ground, all set in COVID lockdown times!

I then went and spent some time transferring my best of my 50 day HAL cruise pictures from my phone to my laptop. Finally after supper we got that squared away and now have a 12 minute slideshow to show friends on the ship. 

We plan to invite a few couples to watch it over these last few sea days!

Day 45 At Sea Remembrance Day

Well there was quite a bit of activity on the ship for a sea day. 

Today is Nov 11th - Remembrance Day in Canada or Veterans Day in the USA. So we attended the service at 10 am in the MainStage theatre. It was a lovely service. First I should say that the ship provided  poppies to in our staterooms two evenings ago - so we were able to wear a poppy. Some forward thinking Canadians had brought their own poppies from home - we knew they were Canadians when they did that. 

The service began with Blair (one of the Billboard Onboard pianists) singing and playing Abide with me. The Captain gave a few words. The Interdenominational minister read a poem and the Catholic priest led us in the Lord’s prayer. Then they had the reading of the names. That gave the opportunity for people to stand up and name aloud somebody they knew and loved who had died in service to their country. That was very personal and touching. This was followed by the poem Flander’s Fields, the Last Post and two minutes of silence. We likely would have attended an outdoor service at home - so this was a touching alternative. 

We stayed in the MainStage for the presentation of Myths and Legends about crossing the equator. We went straight to the Lido pool to join R and C for lunch. They had secured a great table for viewing the King Neptune ceremony that would take place at 2 pm. 

The King Neptune celebration is an interactive  event where crew crossing the equator for the first time meet with a judge and King Neptune and his Queen. The crew are obliged to have coloured gelatin or meringue poured on them, then the Captain and his senior officers decide whether the crew are obliged to roast in the heat or walk the plank into the pool!  It was fun entertainment for the afternoon!  We received official certificates in our stateroom saying we have received the “Order of Shellbacks” and are no longer polywogs!(people who have never crossed the equator at sea)!

After dinner I went to see Jukebox Rogues present Masters of the Musicals. The singers acknowledged it was particularly poignant to sing the song “Bring Him Home” from Les Miserables. I then enjoyed hearing a set with the double pianos in the Billboard Lounge and visited with some cruise critic friends again. 

Though internet is working sporadically, it is tough to get this blog uploaded so you likely won’t see pictures added to closer to land or later!

Day 44 At Sea

Today marks the first of a stretch of seven days at sea - our last seven days of this, our longest ever, cruise. And I realize how lucky we are to be on this cruise when so many at home are enduring extremely cold temperatures and far too much snow for November. 

We both slept very well after our day of hiking in the heat and humidity of Nuku Hiva yesterday.  So we were up for breakfast around 8:30 am in the Lido. 

We then spent some time on my laptop trying to organize photos sourced from the waterproof camera, J’s Nikon and my cell phone. J has spent time throughout the cruise reviewing and selecting the “best of” photos for his two devices. I am trying to select favourites on my camera to air drop onto my laptop. Unfortunately the air drop process wasn’t working today. 

I should mention, J discovered the internet technician has resolved a good number of our problems -and we are able to send and receive texts and emails now. The sharing of photos or anything requiring lots of bandwidth isn’t successful. We have seen a credit on our account for 50% of the cost of the internet package to compensate for the inconsistent internet service. So we paid $375  US initially and HAL was good enough to credit our account $187.50 so that is appreciated. 

In fact, while we were without internet I wanted to reach out to our youngest son as he was flying from his University to our home for a job interview.   We had sent him an abbreviated text on C’s phone (who had service in one of the ports) telling him all what he would have to do to un-winterize the house!  Turn on the water, turn up the heat, reconnect the car battery etc. Well he got all that information but we failed to mention one thing - where the car keys were hidden!  Fortunately we had internet service for the critical 30 minutes just before we pulled out of port in Nuku Hiva when he had just arrived at the house. He texted us pictures of all the household stuff then asked us where the keys were for one of the vehicles he hoped to drive!!  Let’s just say they were hidden so well he NEVER would have found them! So I really appreciated having spent the $15 my cell phone provider charged for international service that day in port!  Fingers crossed for the job interview!!

We tried the new lunch menu in the dining room today and enjoyed it very much!

When J headed out to bridge I treated it like a work day and did some work preparing for events booked over the Christmas season. I then went to watch the movie “Downton Abbey: A New Era”. I have never watched an episode of Downton Abbey and since it is an incredibly long running series I thought it would be worth watching. And it was engaging - even for a newbie like myself!

After dinner, I watched the “International Man of Memory” and lasted about 15 minutes watching the show. I had been warned that he tried really hard to be engaging - but it just didn’t connect with me. 

Without the Billboard Onboard double pianos the casino is a very quiet place tonight!  They had a “chocolate surprise” at 9 pm - to draw people down!  We checked it out - and people lined the hallways on deck 2 - ready to pounce on waiters as they walked past with trays. We graciously waited in the Billboard Onboard lounge and saw chocolate covered almonds, raisins, cream puffs, rice crispie squares and mini cupcakes. We had a few treats but they disappeared quite quickly with the throng of people!

The really fun part of the evening was visiting with friends V and R for a couple hours after wards!

Tomorrow is Remembrance Day and there will be a special service on the MainStage to commemorate that!

Day 43 Taiohae, Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands

Very brief update today. We had a fabulous day in Taiohae, Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands today. We had sunshine!!!

J and I hiked to the Belvedere!  It is an amazing viewpoint. 

We saw three other people on the trail, but nobody when we were at the top. 

We hiked down to Pebble Beach where J snorkelled and I sat in the shade of the one and only palm tree. 

I look red faced for the sunshine and exertion of the hike!!

 

Hopefully we will have the ship’s internet resolved - if not, I will post the updates when I return home!!

Stay warm in the snow friends and family!  We feel ever so thankful to be away at sea in this warm climate. Our longest cruise ever!  Back home on Nov 17th!

Day 42 At Sea

It was odd waking up having moved our clocks back 30 minutes last night!  I guess this is what it feels like to live in Newfoundland!

 

We awoke to sunshine on the verandah!  What a delight!

 

I attended the coffee hour featuring the Food & Beverage Director Mehmet Musacali.  It is always interesting hearing the inside story from staff.  Mehmet confirmed it was eight sea cans of food that got moved on in Papeete.  He said the greatest challenge is working with suppliers to get enough of any number of products for the voyage post COVID.    There was a shortage of aluminum and that was problematic getting drinks.  For instance, when they first started cruising, they couldn’t get any Diet Coke.  They are hopeful that the supply chain issues are coming to an end soon.  Mehmet gave an example of needing watermelon and trying to buy it at one port this trip.  The seller said we can sell it to you - the price - it is $300 per kilogram!!!  (that is like $140 per pound)!  Crazy expensive!  So Mehmet declined to buy the watermelon because the price resembled the cost of gold!

 

I followed up with two questions.  1.  Will they offer a kitchen tour - maybe (they have permission but are concerned about COVID) and 2.  Will they be bringing back America’s Test Kitchen?  The answer, contract ended right before COVID - they are bringing back something better in January.  Another question posed by somebody else - if you want a recipe can you get it?  Yes, ask your room steward and they will get a copy of it for you!  

 

J went for a workout…and I decided to go to the adult coloring class.  It was shockingly busy with men and women!  They have maybe a dozen different travel scenes printed on heavier weight paper to choose from and metal boxes of 36vpencil crayons.  So I went and coloured about 40% of my beach scene with a palm tree before I headed to the MainStage for the EXC Talk:  The Wizard of Wireless.  It wasn’t quite as captivating given we have been without internet service for the past four days - but it was somewhat informative.

 

At lunch we ran into the couple we snorkelled with yesterday, so we sat and enjoyed burgers on the Lido deck and chatting about our adventure yesterday and future travel ideas.

 

J played bridge and I watched a bit of TV and blogged and prepped my texts to share with family in my 10 minute alotment tomorrow!  Let me explain that Captain van der Hoeven sent out a memo stating that the ship would be offering limited wi-fi hotspots tomorrow while in Nuka Hiva.  Guests will be allowed to visit one of three stations from 9 am - Noon and 1 to 4 pm to be given 10 minutes of free wifi access at one time, they will then be disconnected fromt the service.  You can circle back to the back of the line to try again.  They asked that guests only use text, WhatsApp/Messenger (without pictures) or retrieve/send email.  I appreciate the window to try to send out some essential texts to family and friends looking after our homes!  Tomorrow is our last day in port before seven days at sea so there is a small window with which we can work to a) resolve the situation (which Holland America is trying to do with repair technicians) and b) send/receive important information and c) to enjoy time in a port we might not ever return to visit!

Dinner was dressy so that means an upgraded menu.  We had beef tenderloin and flourless chocolate cake for dessert.  On the Mainstage tonight we enjoyed the Jukebox Rogues - a group of four male singers that travel to different cruise ships - as they sang Frankie’s Guys (songs of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons).  It was an entertaining show. 

 We then stopped in to hear the end of the double piano set at the Billboard Onboard lounge.  Tim and Blair are great piano players and singers!

 

We look forward to Nuku Hiva tomorrow!

 

 

Day 41 Fakarava, Tuamotu

Fakarava is a long, skinny spit of land protected by an atoll.  Our temperature today was 24 C with about 94% humidity (except when it was raining and it was 100% humidity!).  We had a very organized independent excursion today where M got a group of 30 people to commit to a snorkelling expedition with Ato Lissant of Fakarava Explorer.  Our group met at 7:45 am in the Explorer’s Lounge where Lincoln Centre Stage is located.  The weather was forecast to have light rain today - with strong winds.  Because our ship hasn'’t had internet for the past 48 hours, M had not been in communication with Ato and was unsure if the tour would still go ahead.  M had worked with Guest services and arranged for our entire group to go off on a tender boat together (rather than waiting in the lounges with the other guests).

 

And so our entire group boarded the tender and headed to shore where we soon learned it was raining heavily.  Our group huddled under one of the 10 x 10 foot pop up Zuiderdam pop-up tents while M went in search of Ato.  We soon learned that all of Ato’s tours had been cancelled due to the poor weather.

 

J asked if I wanted to go for a walk on the island towards the lighthouse and I agreed.  Three other hearty souls joined us.  So the five of us walked at a very leisurely pace in the rain for about 40 minutes until the far left end of the island.  And when we arrived at the lighthouse, we found the rain stopped and it was lovely enough to hunt for seashells and coral on the far side of the island - the side that wasn’t protected by the atoll, so waves were crashing in.  We met up with another couple from the ship who were geocaching - using a GPS to find a hidden scroll, which they found situated on the wall of the lighthouse.

J found a coconut and played Tom Hanks - using a sharp stone edge to cut it open and drink the coconut water - and fed the fruit to all of us as a snack.  We then proceeded to walk back along the road, intending to snorkel along the way.  We had seen three suitable entry points into the water to snorkel and chose the one closest to the lighthouse to enter the water. The downside was I had sent my fins and snorkel on a tender back to the ship with friends who offered to lighten my load.  The other four had made the hike carrying all of their snorkelling gear.  It turned out to be tremendous snorkelling.   J came back to shore and let me use his mask and snorkel to explore.  We saw many of the regular fish plus grouper, white tipped sharks and bull sharks and a fish that looked like a moorish idol but without the long fin. I had my fill snorkelling and then J continued to snorkel with one other guest and three of us walked back to the ship. 

One of our snorkelling friends, with J in the water behind and the ship beyond that!

 We had waves of sunshine and periods of intense rain.  Despite the wet weather, I wasn’t cold!  Because we were walking, and not travelling by boat, the wind wasn’t problematic in making me cold.  We were wet - every single thing on us was wet - but we all just had a good attitude that we were exploring the island!  

 

Eventually we saw other guests from the island walking along the road or renting bicycles and pedalling down the road to explore. In walking back, the three of us tried to stop and go into a shop and the woman crossed her arms in a big X indicating they were closed.  (Our dripping wet attire may have contributed to her reaction!)  Once again, I was sorry not to give any business to the island - we certainly did enjoy exploring it on our own for free!

 

Once back on board, I showered and wrang out all the wet clothing and hanged it in the bathroom or on my travel clothes line in the main part of the room, once it had stopped dripping.  I had lunch and a lovely conversation on the Lido deck with friends from Vermont.  J then returned and I accompanied him for lunch.  We then ran into R & V from Vancouver and invited them to join us for Afternoon Tea in the dining room!  J had eaten a light lunch and I knew the additional liquid would be a good idea to consume!

 

We then returned to our room and from the comfort of our verandah, I began typing my blog and watching the final tenders return for the all aboard time of 4:30 pm.  The Captain came on and reported that the weather was not ideal, that it was challenging with all the rain squalls.  We are not to expect any internet for the next two days - so you all will read these entries days after they happen.  Sorry about that!  I would like to check in with my boys to make sure they are okay - but we don’t have that option!

 

We went up to the Lido Deck for pictures at sail away - it had stopped raining at that point.  We then had our usual laughter at our dinner table with friends R & C.  After dinner, we went to the Mainstage to see the Zuiderdam singers and dancers perform “Dance Fever”.  On the tender returning to the ship I met Cole - who is one of the singers & dancers.  The lead dancer Alexi was on the tender too.  I learned most of the entertainers sleep in quarters on Deck A - with the crew - but the entertainers do have room stewards to clean their rooms.  Somehow Cole ended up in the “priest’s quarters” on Deck 8!  I think he is happy there!  I also learned that Father Paul Parker, the Catholic Priest onboard, is NOT in the priest’s quarters!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 40 Pape'ete, Tahiti Second Day

We awoke for our second day in Pape'ete and it was a close repeat of yesterday’s activities!

 

After breakfast, we went for a walk along the waterfront.  We tried to walk further this time, but ran out of sidewalk and found only roadway so we decided to turn around.  Again there were three playgrounds (aire de jeux en francais) with locks on all of the gates.  Our dinner friends R & C said this is somewhat common in the US.  Communities will build a playground and residents will be given a key!  This approach differs from Canada where playgrounds are for the community and free!  But it does cost money to fundraise and build a playground, so they may want to keep it in good repair.

We bought a beautiful bouquet of flowers from the farmers market and did our best to promote them and encourage other passengers to go buy flowers too!

 

After our walk, we decided to play a game of Splendour (a board game we brought with us) on the Lido deck by the pool.  We stayed long enough to keep our table for lunch and R & C joined us.  They are usually the ones early enough to score a table by the pool at lunch!

 

J decided to go for another walk this afternoon and I stayed in the room and relaxed looking out at our stellar view!  We got super lucky on this our last port day with a dock - the starboard was a far more interesting view to look at rather than port, aft or the bow!

 

When J returned we went for swim in the pool, because the sun was trying to burst forth!  The back sea view pool felt cooler than the mid ship pool no doubt due to the wind.  I scored a bowl of banana ice cream after my swim.  J and I joined friends on the back deck and then it started to pour rain.  This was the heaviest rain of the day and a good one to be under cover.

 

I followed up with Guest Services saying yesterday I bought the Premium wifi for the remainder of the cruise (which should allow for faster streaming - like watching a video) but the ship promptly loss internet service about an hour later.  The internet is still not functioning a day later, so Christine was good enough to refund me the upgrade fee (of $50) and if I choose to upgrade when internet service returns, I can do so then.  V from Vancouver had to go into town to find wifi because she had a deadline at work that she had to meet.

 

Dinner in the dining room was excellent.  J had moonfish, I had a chicken dish.  We both had two appetizers - a Polynesian fruit dish and a shrimp and grapefruit dish.  The starters were excellent!

 

Tomorrow we visit Fakarava on an independent boat excursion - we are really hoping for sunshine and not more rain!

 

 

Day 39 Pape'ete, Tahiti

Pape’ete is the capital city of Tahiti and it was a pleasure to wake up to this view today!

 

We were docked on the starboard side, so we had a splendid view of many other boats (and ships) in the marina.  The port side was looking more out to the open ocean and had more of an industrial view.

 

Two things were of particular interest to watch:  1. The Lonian “Georgetown” private ship parked directly across from our ship and 2.  The replenishment of food and drink being loaded onto our ship.

 

As we learned last night that our private excursion provider (Tahiti by Boat) had cancelled our tour for this afternoon due to the weather, we knew we would go out and explore the city by foot.  So immediately after breakfast, we headed out to walk along the boardwalk of the city.  It was under construction when we last visited the city in 2019.  They have done a beautiful job developing this park space. Interestingly it had three children’s playgrounds with rubber surfaces and current playground equipment.  All three playgrounds had fences around them and padlocks on the fence.  One little girl was looking longingly at the park.  J asked her what time the playground opened and she said she didn’t know.  :(  On this walk we also confirmed the little hotel we stayed at three years ago, Hotel Tiare Tahiti, is now closed.  I suspect it is another victim of not being able to weather the COVID storm.

 

We then went to the market which I thought was open for the whole day on a Saturday - good thing we got there about 11 am - because it closed at 1 pm!  We bought some mangoes and avocados!  It had been sprinkling rain on and off all morning.  When we left the market, it began raining in earnest.  As we neared the ship, I saw Cruise and Travel Director, Ian Page was carrying a nespresso bag so I slowed down and chatted with him.  In the process J went ahead and boarded the ship.  As Ian and I approached the gangway the medical team was bringing somebody down the ramp in a wheelchair (a very wet slippery gangplank).  We were told to wait at the bottom and then the skies opened up and it really started pouring!  So once again, all my clothes were soaked through by the time I returned to the ship.  Tahiti is in the rainy season from November to April so we shouldn’t be that surprised by all the rain.

 

Ian and I were discussing the Lonian private ship.  He told me it costs $35 million dollars to operate the ship annually and that the second ship we saw loaded with water toys including a motor boat with five 450 horsepower motors on the back of it, was the ‘support’ boat to the Lonian “Georgetown”.  Evidently the person who owns the ship has a net worth of $2 billion.  There are different stratospheres of travelling by ship!!  Ian said the nespresso shop does a booming business in Pape’ete because of all of the private yachts, sailboats and ships that come to this port!

 

While J went and played a game of pick up bridge, I had a lovely afternoon on the verandah. I covered my legs with a wool blanket, was sheltered from the rain, surrounded myself with books to read and a cup of tea and watched the loading of supplies onto our ship.  There were six sea cans of cargo loaded onto our ship, which took from 8 am till 4 pm.  At least one of the sea cans was filled with alcohol - beer, wine hard liquor!  Then I pulled out the binoculars and determined the produce they were bringing onboard is coming from New Zealand.  J is excited to have a new crop of apples!  The Canadians we sat next to were really happy to hear that raisin bran is being replenished (there was a whole pallet of that)!  A couple of times I saw the double stacked pallets being moved by forklift tumbled down.  It is clear the forklift drivers are local pier staff and Holland America supervises the operation.  When the forklift driver decided to push the goods on the pier with the forklift, rather than restack the boxes and lift it properly with the forklift, it was the Holland America staff who made sure the pineapples didn’t get bruised any further and insisted the boxes get stacked back on the pallet.  It made for an interesting afternoon.

 

After supper, we both decided to go sit in the MainStage theatre at 6:45 pm for the one and only 8 pm show.  It is a show with local Tahitian musicians and dancers called “Spirit of Tahiti”.  We found lineups through the casino waiting for the doors to open.  Doors didn’t open till 7:15 pm and some folks weren’t too happy about that.  The good thing was, once inside, they announced repeatedly that there would be no holding seats for people not present.  So the theatre filled fast and I am sure a number of people were disappointed not to get a seat.  The show was of high energy and got steady applause!

 So J asked if I wanted to go for a walk in Papeete tonight.  Though the rain seems to have subsided, I had no interest in walking in a foreign country at night after the sun has set.  So here it is 9:20 pm and I am wrapping up my blog.  We overnight here for the second night and depart at 4:30 pm tomorrow.

 

Internet is down on the ship…so we will see how soon I can post this!

Day 38 Bahia D'Opunoha, Moorea

Moorea is a volcanic island which originally was a single volcano, but over a million years the walls of the volcano have eroded away leaving eight mountains that were part of the lip of the crater.  So Moorea is beautiful to look at and of the islands we have visited, perhaps it is in the top two for a nice view from the water!

 Our day was a lagoon tour which was booked independently with Albert’s Tours for $80 US pp (or less if one pays in XPF - the French Polynesian Franc).  It was a big pontoon boat holding about 40 people. By now we knew a number of people on the boat after taking various private excursions.  The people who do private excursions probably account for 15% of the boat population so we quickly have made friends with many of these folks!  And as this tour involves snorkelling again - the tour attracts other snorkelling fans.  We caught a tender that put us on shore at 8:25 am and we were to meet at the boat at 8:30 am.

Some early views of Moorea. 

 

We toured through Opunoha Bay and Cooks Bay to see some of the landscape (and other ships).  We often joke that Holland America should offer a shore excursion that allows us to visit other ships in port so we can see what they look like inside!  Somehow I don’t think that would be a big seller with the cruise lines though!  There was a Paul Gaugin and a Windstar ship tendered in one of the bays.

 We then went to a snorkelling site where we could see rays up close and personal.  As the weather was expected to closely repeat yesterday’s, I didn’t want to get wet and then spend another 3 or 4 hours in wet gear while hanging out on a beach for a picnic lunch (without any sun to dry off) so I watched from the boat with a few others and took a number of photos!  The guides from our boat allowed the snokellers to touch the black top side of the stingrays.  J saw a tuna so that was a fun sighting!

J with V and  R (permission granted to post!) during the sunny part of the day!

We then headed to our motu for our picnic lunch.  We wisely chose a long picnic table under cover, expecting it to start raining.  The guides played music, demonstrated how to make ceviche, tie pareos and danced.  Lunch consisted of ceviche, rice, bread, pineapple, chicken and fish.  A hearty meal to fuel all the shivering we did later.  After lunch a number of us went snorkelling on the far side of the island and drifted around back to our beach.  I decided not to repeat the snorkel (though it was pretty), the current at the end was quite strong, so I though it best to stay on land.  

A string ray!

 

All of a sudden J and four others who were snorkelling on the far side of the island returned.  I asked J why he walked back, rather than snorkelled around and he said they were called in from the water, by one of the guides.  Then the rain began to fall in earnest!  I mean, crazy hard.  And the guides asked if we wanted to return to the ship - and we all said yes!  So we boarded our boat an hour early and slowly returned to the tender.  The slow speed was appreciated because it was cold enough with rain coming into our faces from all directions on the boat.  The southern US people I was seated with compared this weather to what a hurricane is like!  Somebody else asked if they get typhoons in this area - and yes they do!  

 

So we were glad to return to the safety (and warmth) of the tender.  And then we learned later that not all tenders were so safe!  One of them ran aground on some coral around noon - and the passengers and crew had to ‘stay put’ until they could be rescued about an hour and a half later!  At the Captain’s 5 pm announcement he said today was the most challenging day they had at sea!

 

During supper the ship pulled away from Moorea and travelled for two hours to get to Papeete, Tahiti by 8 pm.  So now we are secured fastened to the pier in Papeete and people can go ashore if they wish.  And it is still raining!  (But we aren’t shovelling snow!)

 

We received an email tonight from our tour provider tomorrow, and they said due to the challenging weather, they are cancelling tomorrow’s tour.  After two days in the pouring rain, I appreciate the proactive call.  J and I will enjoy walking around the city tomorrow seeing the sites independently!

Day 37 Uturoa, Raiatea, French Polynesia

Raiatea is a port where we are able to dock this 1900 person ship - so that meant a quicker disembarkation for everybody’s excursion today.

 

Today we had an excursion booked with L’excursion Bleue and they contracted us out with their partner Terainui Tours.  The event planner in me very much appreciated the reminder email sent by L’excursion Bleue 24 hours before our tour with all the details spelled out.  They reminded us what we had booked, what to pack, what time to meet and provided us with a map of directions to our meeting place.  Perfect!

 

And so we packed our bags for what was likely to be (make that certain to be) a rainy day.  In fact, I put my raincoat on before I walked down the gangway as it was already raining.   We met at the boat next to the Shell station. As this Shell station sells marine fuel, I think it does a very good business!

 

We had 17 of us on the boat along with George our Captain and his first mate.  Our first stop was a snorkelling stop to see black tip sharks near the reef.  They are about 4 feet long and harmless.  It was quite interesting being on a boat with 17 guests as opposed to yesterday’s tour where there were six of us.  Yesterday Diego made the comment we were professionals - as we all had our own snorkelling gear and were quick to exit the boat at every snorkelling site.  Today, at this first snorkelling site, I was ready to climb back IN the boat and the last people were still getting organized to get off the boat and into the water!

 

 

We then went to visit a pearl farm.  It is amazing what goes into crafting black pearls.  After 2.5 years of being a junior oyster, they then receive a graft with a nucleus (sourced from the Missippi River and shaped into a sphere in Japan) along with a small amount live material from the oyster to help it grow a black pearl (which could end up being grey, green, silver….).  The oysters then grow another 2 - 3 years beore being able to be removed.  Two million oysters are housed in the ocean in 85 hectares of space.  That might generate 1 million pearls… of varying qualities.  Black pearls are classified kind of like diamonds, A,B,C according to their quality.  A single A black pearl would sell for about $1,000 in the boutique at the farm - paid for by somebody who was willing to spend that much on it!  Very interesting work to see and the pearls are beautiful!

 

After the pearl farm we went to the West Coral Garden to snorkel.  The tide here was strong so we did a drift snorkel and had the boat pick us up.  It was an effort to stay in one spot with the current.  We were supposed to go for our picnic lunch at the beach at that point, but due to the rain, our Captain adjusted the schedule to go to do things under cover and out of the rain, and perhaps hoping the sun would clear for an improved session at the beach!

 

We then went to visit the Vallee de la Vanille (Vanilla Farm) where they told us about the labour intensive process of producing vanilla.  1% of the world’s vanilla is Tahitian vanilla - that is a small segment of the industry!  And 70% of Tahitian vanilla comes from the island of Taha’a (one of the two main islands that makes up Raiatea).  Our ship docked at Raiatea, then boated over to the island of Taha’a, where this vanilla farm was situated.  They sold a tiny plastic bag of vanilla powder for $30 US.  It can be used 1/4 tsp of powder in place of 1 tsp of regular vanilla. We were here 3 years ago and we purchased vanilla paste - (it is fabulous to bake with) and is used in a ratio of 1/2 tsp instead of 1 tsp of regular vanilla.

 

I must say at this point, it was pouring rain - so walking in our wet gear the 800 metres or so from the boat to the vanilla farm was kind of humorous - we couldn’t get any wetter.  (We were already in our wet swim clothes after our snorkelling)!  

Our group walking away from the vanilla plantation back to the boat!

 

We then headed on the long boat ride to the motu for our picnic.  The rain was kind of like needles landing in your face as we headed towards the motu.  We arrived about 1:30 pm but didn’t eat till 2 pm when several other boats arrived.  We were fortunate to sit at tables and chairs under a protective cover while waiting to eat - but the wind made me shiver nonstop!  This was not the blue sky weather we have had on previous visits to French Polynesia!  But my ‘dry’ clothes were in a very wet knapsack on the boat - anchored offshore - so I continued to sit in my wet clothes.

 

After lunch, we now had free time that was enjoyed by the four people who decided to snorkel off the motu (J being one of them).  He walked in the water out to the boat to retrieve my knapsack and I went and change into my dry(er) clothes.  And covered up with my raincoat and towel around my legs.  It would have been an exceptional island to spend a few hours at enjoying the beach, the loungers and views, had it been a hot, sunny day!

 All in all I was happy to return to the ship by 3 pm - six and a half hours after we departed.  It is a lovely excursion itinerary - but the weather today made me want to have booked a 3 hour tour!

Our picnic motu view!

 

I wanted a hot chocolate after a hot shower - but the lido didn’t have any hot chocolate packages so I had a hot tea.  At supper time our waiter Juma did the miracle of rounding up a hot chocolate for me after our meal so that was appreciated!  I don’t want to sound critical of the weather when I know they are getting far too much snow at home for this time for the year but I was happy to return to our warm dry stateroom tonight! After supper, I had a few hours of work to do for my business that will keep me busy when I return back home in November.

 

Tomorrow we visit Moore’a!

 

Day 36 Vaitape, Bora Bora, French Polynesia

We had rough seas last night and that made me fear the impact the weather would have on our day in Bora Bora.  In fact once you pass inside the lagoon, which is inside the atoll (a ring of reef around an island) it is exceptionally calm.  This atoll has only a single break in it where all marine traffic must pass, whether you are a large ship like the Zuiderdam or a small jet boat like the one we took on our excursion today with six passengers on it!

 

Last night we organized our bags for our snorkelling excursion this morning - and it was a good thing we did!  We awoke at 6:30 am and had eaten breakfast when we were returning to the room about 7:20 am when the captain came on the loudspeaker and made an announcement.  He said that tenders were open and that if you wanted to get ashore you had until 7:45 am and then all the tenders would be reserved for Holland America excursions until 8:30 am.  We were to meet H20 Bora Bora at 8:30 am on the pier so we had to get a move on!  We and a number of other independent excursion guests hustled onto the tender and made our way to shore.  We visited with friends on shore for about 30 minutes then found Aimee with H20 Bora Bora by about 8:10.  By 8:20 am we were loaded into our speed boat with our Captain and Guide Diego jetting off to our first snorkelling site.

 

And did we have success!  We saw four manta rays - those are the BIG rays that measure more than 10 feet across - one female and three males.  Once we were swimming quite a distance in the water, looking for these manta rays, my friench paid off as I heard one of the other boats talking to our guide Diego, saying there was a ray nearby.  I looked down and saw a huge manta ray about five feet below where I was swimming!  It was a breathtaking view!

 

After spotting manta rays we then travelled by boat to a coral garden and was it spectacular!  So many colours of clams that opened and close and a huge school of fish, a flute fish and phenomenal coral to enjoy.  At that point it started raining - and it continued to rain for much of the day.  It didn’t bother us when we were in the water snorkelling, but it did make us cold when travelling in the boat after that point.

The long and skinny flute fish in the coral garden. 

 We went past the very expensive Conrad Hotel with thatched hut hotel rooms (with private hot tubs on each deck)! We saw all kinds of dolphins playing in the water.   Diego was determined to have us see Leopard rays so he scouted some areas and found some.  It was in an area with a strong current and I was too tuckered out with all of the swimming we had already done so I drifted back to the boat.  But J and the other 5 guests saw the lepard rays!

 We got back to the dock about 12:20 - so it was a very successful four hour excursion!  We ran into two friends from Cruise Critic on the pier who were booked to head out on the afternoon tour with Diego - so we introduced them to Diego.  

The private island for sale for $38 million US!

 

It started raining heavily then so we decided to head back to the ship, shower and eat lunch.  We ran into V & R from Abbostford in the Lido.  We ate lunch and tendered back over to Bora Bora.  It was raining lightly at this time.  J and I had raincoats on.  We walked through the town looking at the grocery store (where I bought a couple kinds of juice to drink for a treat) and some T-shirt and art stores.  The men were pleased to pick a mango from a tree on the street.  The owner invited us to - and we were happy to take him up on the offer (I did give him a little tip in thanks!).  J headed back to the ship sooner than I did and spotted some dolphins off the back deck of the ship and enjoyed strawberry daiquiri as a gift from my sister!  Thanks LC!

 

We enjoyed dinner on the ship, walked the promenade deck once, then returned to our room to type the days events!  We will pack our bags for our day i Raiatea tomorrow, then watch the end of the film “The House of Gucci” starring Lady Gaga tonight!

 

 

 

Day 35 At Sea

Another day at sea today and it feels like we are on the final stretch of the trip.  We have French Polynesian ports ahead of us (which ought to be thrilling) and then seven days at sea before returning home November 17th.

 

Today it was All Saints Day so we attended a Catholic Mass at 8 am.  Then this morning I chose to make an effort to do some work for my business at home.  Wrong day to choose that as the internet service was vvveerrrrryyy ssssllllooowwww.  I then went to hear Kainoa’s final presentation on Pape’ete, Fakarava and Nuku Hiva.  Kainoa will be leaving the ship in Pape'ete and then it will just be Ian to share information.  Thankfully now Holland America is replaying these presentations on the TV in your stateroom.  It is so hard to get a seat.  A person goes  to the MainStage 20 minutes early (while another speaker is still presenting) to secure a seat.  There was a woman sitting on the stairs beside me for today’s presentation.  His presentations are just so informative, filled with captivating slides and sharing really valuable information about the ports.

 

When I returned to our stateroom, J asked me to email him 3 pictures.  That effort took about 25 minutes of internet - and J still didn’t receive them within the hour.  We really are floating in the middle of the Pacific so satellite communications are limited!  

 

There are 3 classes of email one can purchase:  social, email, streaming.  Social is only to go on facebook or instagram.  Email allows you to send and receive email.  Streaming allows you to conduct video calls with family.  We chose the middle level for $375 US for the 50 days for one device.  The fastest category cost $500.  This means that I must log off the internet so that J can log in.  We are able to manage quite well with one account - it is shared between my phone, computer and J’s iPad.  I recall that one could get the internet package for 4 devices for $800 US for 50 days.  They now offer an upgrade to the faster internet speed for the remaining 15 days for about $75?  I may choose to upgrade for the final 7 days we are at sea when I am closer to returning to the work world and trying to accomplish more.

 

J and I met with another cruise critic member to sign up for a snorkelling tour he is organizing in Fakarava.  He had a few cancellations so we were happy to fill in the two spots!

After that, J went to bridge and I watched the 2017 movie Gaugin - about the painter Paul Gaugin.  He painted for the final 10 years of his life in French Polynesia.  Gaugin died penniless around 1904.  One of his paintings sold in 2014 for $210 million!  The biography didn’t paint him in a particularly fabourable light, but it was informative.

 

Tonight was a dressy night - so that meant a lovely meal.  Shrimp cocktail for an appetizer and a filet mignon and grilled shrimp for our main course.

Our friends R and C from the dining room took this picture of us!

And now, I type this as we await for the Zuiderdam Singers and Dancers who are about to debut their show “Chart Toppers”.  The ship is really moving tonight so I expect they will have a challenging time doing their dance steps on stage!  We had a bit of sunshine earlier today and as the sun was setting, we had more misty, rainy conditions appear. (The show was excellent though I don’t think the audience cheered as loudly as the performers deserved!)

 

Tomorrow we hope to tender in successfully into Bora Bora!  Our snokelling bags will be packed in anticipation!

 

 

Day 34 Aitutaki, Cook Islands

We had success today!  We awoke at 6:30 am to calmer seas and that looked promising to get tenders ashore in Aitutaki, Cook Islands.  So J and I hustled to eat breakfast and pack bags to go ashore for a day on a small boat where we would go snorkelling!

 

We were in the Billboard Onboard lounge at 7:45 am, and were given tickets to the first tender going ashore at 8 am.  We booked an independent excursion with Teking Lagoon Cruises.  Once the tender pulled ashore in Aitutaki, we walked straight over to a van parked 100 metres away which had Teking Tours written on the side.  This excursion was 150 New Zealand dollars or about $118 Canadian.  We had paid for our tour in advance but many others paid cash in New Zealand dollars.  They accepted American money at par (banks post the exchange rate at $0.58 for US dollars - but that is not available on the island!)  So best if you have New Zealand dollars here in hand.  Teking (the owner) said that they have to fly to New Zealand to exchange money so that is why they charge it at par.

 

We had 20 guests in our boat.  There were two other boats with 6 guests in one and 8 in another.  Princess was our guide (and Teking’s wife) and the boat was driven by an experienced local pilot.  Our first snorkel spot allowed us to see giant trevally!  The giant trevalli were mesmerizing.  You could look them in the eye and they were huge (maybe 3 - 4 feet long and 16 inches tall).  

 

We clambered aboard and jetted to our next site a few minutes away to spot really big clams - maybe 2 feet across the mouth.

 

After this we went to Honeymoon Beach where we walked into the water and along a long spit of white sand beach spotting coral and shells all along the way.  We ran into a few other ship people here who were touring with another company called Captain Fantastic.  This was their fifth island to visit - but had not yet snorkelled.  The forecast was for rain and maybe a thundershower in the afternoon so their Captain was trying to help them get idyllic island shots while the weather was good.

  

And we have less than stellar pictures from this day as we were focussed on snorkelling!!

After this beach we visited another beach where lunch was prepared exclusively for Teking Tour guests.  It included: barbecued chicken, banana, egglant and pumpkin, along with salads (green, papaya with coconut, potato, cole slaw) and watermelon.  Cold water was offered onsite to drink.  A person could buy Heiniken beer for $7 NZ or sprite or coke for $4 NZ.  One couple bought a beer and soft drink, but most just had water.  

 

After our very tasty lunch, we went to One Foot Island - which many people like to visit to get a stamp in their passport.  We don’t have passports - so the appeal was really to see this beautiful beach and snorkel one more time!  We walked down the beach and drift snorkelled back to the boat.  We saw giant clams and the drift part was fun!  J was hearty enough to swim against the current where he had to swim nonstop to hold his place!  Kind of like swimming in a rapids!

 

The wind had picked up and we thought there was a possibility that the Captain may have pulled the tenders out of the water but the direction of the wind, meant the water was calmer when we returned to Aitutaki to catch a tender back to the ship.

 

As today is Halloween, there were a number of pumpkins decorated and on display in the Lido.  There was a bucket of mini chocolate bars when we entered the dining room.  J and I each took one - I hoped to take one as we left the dining room but the bucket was gone!  After dinner J stayed in our room as his knee was giving him grief after jumping out of the boat into shallow water today (he had been told it would be 1 - 2 metres!).  I went to the Billboard Onboard lounge for the double pianos (two people singing and playing together) and to the Rolling Stone lounge where there were lots of people were in costume.  This was a happening ship tonight!  It was nice to see it so lively!

Halloween Party at Rolling Stone lounge!

We felt particularly fortunate to set foot on land in Aitutaki today as the seas have been stormy and many of these tender ports seem at risk. Hallelujah!!

Day 33 - Avatiu, Rarotonga, Cook Islands - Maybe?

J and I awoke in the night around 4 am to find no air movement in our room.  And there is always air movement - either hot or cold - one seems not able to choose no fan whatsoever.  So I called the Front Desk to report that and they sent the night housekeeping to our room to verify indeed, no air movement was happening.  As a result of the disruption in the night (and the heat in our room) and the one hour time change loss, we slept late for us.  I awoke at 7:45 and looked out to see Rarotonga shrouded in cloud.  We were due to begin tendering into this port at 8 am so that fact that we were still moving did not look promising.

 

I decided to leave J sleeping and headed up to the Crowsnest on Deck 10 where there are panoramic windows forward.  Here is also where the EXC (Excursion) booking desk is located.  I asked the obvious question - “Are we missing this port today?”  Yes indeed we are not stopping in Avatiu, Rarotonga, Cook Islands today.  Then the Captain came on the loudspeaker and announced that due to unsafe conditions we would not be tendering in to this island.  The Captain announced that at 7:30 am we had winds of 45 knots (at 1.15 conversion that amounts to winds of more than 50 miles per hour).  He could not hold the ship steady and as a result he cancelled the port.  We are taking a longer route to travel to our next destination Aitutaki, Cook Islands.  The longer route allowed us to travel at higher speeds so the day would offer smoother sailing - so we circumnavigated Rarotonga as part of the morning’s routing.

 I bought a coffee for J at the Explorations Cafe - located inside the Crowsnest.  As a bonus, they offered complimentary croissants and biscotti, so I picked up two small pieces of chocolate biscotti to accompany J’s Americano.  While J appreciated the delivery of a coffee (I think) he didn’t enjoy the roast of the bean and prefers to have his coffee in the dining room.  So we went to the dining room for breakfast.  We squeaked in the dining room at exactly 9 am when they stop allowing guests to enter for breakfast. They graciously accepted us perhaps due to the fact that we had just heard the disappointing news that we were going to miss today's port.  This is just another example of the staff going the extra mile to compensate and please guests while the cruise itinerary changes are necessary.

My first view of Rarotonga, Cook Islands this morning!

 

Mid morning, J went for a workout in the fitness centre and I had mine in a 45 minute “Permission to Dance” class!  And the air conditioning was fixed in our room (and others) before lunch so that was a quick response time!

 

For lunch at the Lido, we found glasses of prosecco set out on all the tables, complimentary from "Captain Frank van der Hoeven, Hotel General Manager Henk Mensink, Staff, Officers and Precious Cres of the Zuiderdam” with apologies for needing to forgo our call to Avatiu, Rarotonga, Cook Islands.  Holland America really is trying to do all it can to make the cruise enjoyable when port adjusments are necessary for the safety of everybody.  

 

J played bridge, I watched HGTV’s Renovation Island (the show is called Island of Bryan in Canada).  I find if I watch HGTV around 3 pm in the afternoon on the ship - we get what are considered prime time shows at home. Other TV channels include:  BBC World News, Fox News, MSNBC, Sport 24 (which plays lots of Rugby!), Foot Network, HGTV, Travel Channel, Prime One and Prime Favorites.  HGTV is my go to channel or BBC World News.

 

We then had phone calls with each of our sons back in Canada.  We use the What’s App audio call feature and had reasonably good reception.  Each call only dropped once!

 

At dinner, J and I ordered a Surf and Turf to share for an upcharge (doing all we can to give HAL a little more business!).  J ate the filet mignon ‘bleu’ and I had the lobster tail. The meal came with asparagus, fried mushrooms and a baked potato.  It was a big serving (and we had ordered a lasagne to share as well) so I would have been happy with just the shared meal.  For dessert, Juma was very pleased to report there was rocky road ice cream!  That flavour is tough to find and always a quick sell out on the lido deck.  I believe Juma made a special order of rocky road ice cream for R & C’s table as well as ours!

 

We then headed to the MainStage to watch “BBC Earth Presents:  Planet Earth II in Concert”  This amazing cinematography of natural animals in the wild is accompanied by seven musicians live onstage.  

BBC Earth:  Planet Earth II in concert. 

We visited with two more friends from Cruise Critic after the show and took bets on whether or not we will be able to tender in tomorrow to Aitutaki.  Fingers crossed, we will find out in the morning!

Day 32 At Sea

Days at sea do tend to blend together - so I wouldn’t distinguish these days too much without writing down the blog!

 

After breakfast this morning J and I both went to listen to Ian’s coffee chat with Chris, the Assistant Hotel General Manager.  These informal conversations followed by questions and answers are often very enlightening.  The most significant take away I learned today was hearing Chris’s answer to the question, “What is the most challenging thing about this cruise?”  His answer was, “Revenue.  It is always a challenge on these longer cruises.”  Say what?  

 

And then I thought about Holland America generating less revenue on these longer cruises and realized the shops on the ship selling Holland America merchandise or jewellery or perfume are NOT busy.  Not busy like you would see them humming with activity on a 7 or 10 day cruise.  People pack for many possible weather systems on these extended cruises and are quite prepared.  My observation is that people on shorter cruises, treat shopping as part of the experience, buying souvenirs like HAL merchandise or whatever….then turning around and having a new audience to buy on the next cruise.  And on a 10 day cruise, people might say - lets try the Pinnacle Grill or Canneletto specialty dining one night each (each has an uncharge).  We might try the specialty dining restaurants once each on a 50 day cruise….again, less revenue for HAL over a longer duration.  So just an interesting piece of information that we learned by attending the coffee chat!

 

I attended Kainoa and Ian’s talk about our first three French Polynesian ports - Bora Bora, Raiatea and Mo’orea.  Once again they provided relevant information about what to see and do at the these ports if you don’t already have your excursions planned.

We all hope to get some blue sky weather like the slide from Kainoa’s presentation!

 

After lunch in the Lido (and a fun visit with C & R, our usual dinner partners) J went to bridge.  I went to the Permission to Dance class - and followed the choreography marginally better and got some exercise.  Today was “Cupcake Afternoon Tea” so I decided to check it out.  I was seated at a table with three other individuals and we had a wonderful conversation about excursions and other cruise possibilities. 

 

We also heard from the Captain that we passed the Noordam today - as it was heading the opposite direction from us - south.  And we heard that the Noordam was unable to use their tender boats to get into the Cook Islands.  We are scheduled to visit Avatiu, Rarotonga, Cook Islands tomorrow and have planned an independent snorkelling excursion.  I sure hope we can safely get ashore - but the forecast is not looking promising.

 

Today we received keepsake certificates, customized with our names and dates for Crossing the International Date Line.  We will see if we can get them home without bending them!

 

J and I went to church at 5 pm tonight.  J was asked to read the second lesson and he did a fine job!  We then visited the Italian restaurant, Canaletto and very much enjoyed it.  Rose was our server and she was excellent.  Like any very good Italian restaurant, the food was outstanding.  The meal began with tapas, then appetizers, then pasta, our main courses and dessert.  We had the pasta with lobster and it was particularly lovely.  A tremendous amount of tomatoes, pepper, onions & garlic over the pasta with 6 pieces of lobster.  More of a thick covering of vegetables over the pasta rather than a sauce - and lots of olive oil!  Only the gnocchi lacked a wow factor as we make it better at home!

 

Then I finished reading my book “Adrift” on my iPad.  As it is the story of one man’s survival on a rubber liferaft at sea for 76 days, it gave me a better appreciation of trying to spot somebody in a similar situation on the horizon from our ship!

 

Fingers crossed, I will have a report of a shore excursion tomorrow - and not another day at sea!

Day 31 At Sea

Little to report today!  We had to hand over our passports to the ship’s officers to be kept from now until November 10th.  This is how they are handling immigration in French Polynesia.  J reported they gave him a receipt when he handed over our passports!  We trust they will keep them safe!

 

I tried the “Permission to Dance” Class this morning.  If J and I were ever on the Amazing Race, I always thought I had to be the one to take on any dance challenges.  After this morning’s class, I am less confident in my ability to pick up on choreography and successfully execute such a challenge!!  It was fun exercise just the same.

 

Lunch in the Lido was crowded.  J went to bridge this afternoon.  I went to hear the pianist play at Lincoln Centre Stage, then did a few other things.

 

The most interesting thing to report is that today we are crossing the International Date Line…so tomorrow will also be Saturday, October 29th!  How crazy is that?  The double day was messing up reservations at the Italian dining room, Canaletto.  So I went in person to ask for a reservation for Saturday, October 29th and they asked me “Today or tomorrow"? When I said tomorrow, they manually wrote down my name to ensure we have a table reserved!

 

Tonight on the MainStage we will go to see the documentary “Waikiki in the Wake of Dreams” - another historical gem Kainoa has found for us about Hawaii!  Though we are enjoying travelling in the South Pacific - it is not blue sky and sunny!  We have had gray skies and a fair bit of drizzle since we left Hawaii.  So we will see if the forecast changes!

Day 30 Nuku'Alofa, Tonga (Second Day)

After breakfast at the Lido, we headed out to catch a bus for an independent excursion called Toni’s Tours.  I only knew that we were going to a rainforest and to a cave - so we dressed for a bus tour day, knowing there would be no air conditioning.  Toni ran another tour to different sites yesterday and a number of Cruise Critic people were on that tour.  For whatever reason, a number (15 to be precise) did not show up for today’s tour - and I felt bad for Toni because payment was made today, on arrival.

 

But we had two buses that set out today.  Our bus had 9 guests on it, the other one had 7 people on it, so we had lots of room to spread out.

 

Our first stop was at Kolisi Ko Tupou is a school for 1,000 boys in Tonga.  The religious school operates as a farm growing much of the food they need to feed the 1,000 boys.  Boys go to school from Monday to Friday and stay in dormitories during the week, then go home on Friday.  Carolyn was a teacher from the school who was our guide for this portion.  She told us the boys were middle school and high school and that they worked two hours per day on the farm.  The farm grew a variety of fruit and vegetables and had lots of land for cattle and sheep to graze.

 

She took us to a back part of their property that featured the Toloa Rainforest - the only rainforest in Tonga.  Evidently Prince Harry and his wife Megan Markle visited this rainforest as part of their first Royal visit after they got married.  Of course Tonga is part of the Commonwealth.  Here is a link to the then royals visiting this rainforest (and my ship’s wifi is too slow to play it so hopefully it is the right one!):

 

Prince Harry & Megan visit Rainforest

 

Interestingly the farm also raises pigs too and when we went to see the pigs, the workers there wearing “China Aid” shirts told us we couldn’t go in to see the pigs (because of concerns about what we could track in on our shoes - fair enough) or take pictures.  So we moved on to see the sheep in the field!  It is interesting to note that both China and Japan have played influential roles in Tonga.  Japan paid for the only good road in Tonga - paved about 21 years ago.  It was China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand who have assisted Tonga in rebuilding after the earthquake, volcano and tsunami in January of 2022.

 

Our guide Carolyn lives on the school property with her husband, a banker in town.  When the volcano erupted, Carolyn removed the drainspout from their roof into their cistern and covered the hole with a pail.  As a result, their family had fresh water in the following days while the ash was still settling.  Others weren’t so lucky.

 

At this school, we also visited a small museum, and a large church, called Moulton Chapel on the school property.  J could have spent twice as long in the museum!  The school was at least 150 years old!

The Moulton Chapel is pictured above. 

 

I had purchased a fruit plate as I boarded the bus - knowing this excursion would take us into the early afternoon (and we are clearly advised we are not to remove any food from the ship).  So while we were driving to the Anahulu Cave, I ate my papaya, banana, watermelon & pineapple!  A delicious snack!

 

The Anahulu Cave is a series of limestone caves with fresh water to swim in.  Once we arrived at the the Anahulu Cave, we walked down a series of concrete steps to enter into the cave. There was a tight entrance (say 4 feet) and impressive stalagtites and stalagmites adorning the cave! As we proceeded further, we saw pools of water and we were invited to swim in them if we wanted.   (This is where I really didn’t read the fine print about what this excursion involved today as we weren’t wearing swim suits!)  J was willing to strip down to his underwear and go for a swim;  I was not so willing! J did think it was a very cool experience to float on his back and look up at the ceiling covered in stalagtites.  

 The cave really was the hilight of the bus tour today.  The pool was only 100 feet by 20 feet wide but still an amazing body of water (and the only fresh body of water in Tonga, according to Toni).

J in the cave pool!

 

The cave is situated near the ocean with a small beach that included urchin, mussel, snail and cowry shells.  It started to rain as we were leaving so it was really nice to have roof like structure at the top of the stairs with some benches and chairs available where you could sit and stay dry while waiting for the group to congregate.

 

We returned to the ship and ordered hamburgers at the Dive In - and didn’t eat until about 3 pm.

 

The Tongans were kind enough to have a police band play under a tent in the rain as the ship was getting ready to leave.  They had some Tourism Tongo dancers perform and some school children as well.  They probably had an hour of entertainment on the pier that we could watch and hear for our last hour in Tonga!  I am so happy we were able to come and visit to inject some badly needed money into the economy.

 

After dinner, I sat down to write this blog and now can feel the ship moving in rougher seas!  We have a sea day tomorrow!

 

Day 29 Nuku'Alofa, Tonga

Malo E Lelei!  Hello from the Kingdom of Tonga!  We are in the city of Nuku’Alofa on the island of Tongatapu, in the Kingdom of Tonga for two days and one night.

 

We had time for a nice visit with two cruise critic friends on the Lido deck over breakfast.  We then made our way down the gangway to the pier and were pleased to find visitor information handing out maps of the island and of a walking tour in the city.  We decided on a path to explore, knowing we wanted to return to the pier for the presentation between government representatives and the Captain of the Zuiderdam at 10:30 am.

 

J had investigated and learned the Prime Minister was sitting in Parliament this morning and if he wasn’t able to break away - a Minister would be sent on his behalf. We positioned ourselves in front of a little tent that had some officials gathered, and a sound system.  A prayer was said by an Anglican minister at the beginning of the event.  The Captain came off the ship and stood removed from the tent closer to the ship on the pier.  This is where the exchange of gifts took place - not directly in front of us under the little tent!  I guess the Prime Minister couldn’t break away as it was the Minister of Tourism who presented Captain Frank van der Hoeven with a plaque from the country of Tonga welcoming the Zuiderdam on its inaugural visit to Tonga.  The Captain presented the Minister of Tourism with what appeared to be a Delft Pottery plate from Holland.  I tried to get pictures of the exchange but there was a crowd of people encircled all around them!

 J and I then left and carried on with our walking tour. We went past the Royal Palace (Red Roof, White building, fence all around).  We came across a church with the most glorious voices wafting out to the street.  We walked closer, listened from outside, heard applause, then inquired and learned it was a a women’s program - so I would have been allowed in, but J was not!  We thanked them, gave a donation and left.

Minister of Tourism in profile and the Captain centred. 

 

J carried on exploring on the path laid out on the map provided and I chose to return to the ship.  I stopped at a few shops and supported the local Tongans!  And I really did want to support this local economy.  I had reached out to a charter company several weeks ago inquiring about a snorkel excursion and this is the reply I received:  “Unfortunately everyone in our company had to leave Tonga to seek work outside the country post Covid/Earthquake/Tsunami since there haven’t been any tourists for close to three years. I hope you enjoy your time in the Kingdom.”  The tsunami/earthwake they are referring to happened in January of 2022.  While Canadians may have lost their jobs during COVID, they did not have to leave the country to find work.  These people have suffered profoundly and I know the return of cruise ships in port will make a positive difference to their economy.

 

The remains of the pier torn up from the tsunami in January 2022. 

I stopped at the Visitor Information booth on the pier and talked to Anna and Alice asking about taking a taxi to a beach as a single female.  They advised against that so I returned to the ship for the afternoon - where J caught up with me!  We ate lunch by the back Lido pool.

 

I spent the afternoon trying to pay for an excursion scheduled in Rarotonga in 4 days time and logging in and out of bank accounts.  The duo authorization is proving to be a challenge as I cannot receive those authentication alerts on my phone while in airplane mode!  So I bit the bullet and pulled it off airplane mode and promptly got a text from my cell phone carrier, advising me that I would be charged $15 for the day's roaming fee.  One of things I was trying to pay was all these extra charges appearing on my phone bill!!

 

I called my Mom and my sister right before supper and had a quick visit, then headed off to the dining room.  After dinner, the Tongans put on a fire dance display on the pier.  The wind had to have made it challenging (it certainly made me cold!) but we were entertained none the less!

 

Fire Dance performance. 

We have a tour from the pier at 9 am tomorrow so I must get organized for that!  Stay safe everyone!

Day 28 At Sea

Today was another ‘misty’ day at sea.  The temperature was mostly 22 C.  The Captain, the Entertainment Director, Excursion Manager and many guests are looking for blue sky sunshine!  I feel privileged to have another day at sea, even if it is rainy, when I know snow has fallen at home!

 

While J did his exercises on the Promenade, I went to two presentations at the MainStage.  The first one was the Excursion Manager talking about opportunities in French Polynesia.  The second one was Ian and Kainoa talking about the Kingdom of Tonga - where we arrive tomorrow.  

 Something exciting at the pier in Nuku’Alofa, Tongatapu, the Kingdom of Tonga is scheduled to happen is scheduled for 10:30 am tomorrow.  This will be the Zuiderdam’s Maiden Call to this port and the Prime Minister of Tonga is expected to participate in a Plaque Exchange ceremony tomorrow, in welcoming our ship to this Kingdom.  As we don’t have a formal excursion planned - we plan to watch this!

 

After lunch in the dining room, I went to watch a documentary on the MainStage called “Under a Jarvis Moon”.  It told the story of 12 Hawaiian young men taking residence on three islands around the equator so that the United States could claim they had residents on these islands and thus assume land title.  It was informative, and a story not told in the History books.  As J was still at bridge, I then went to hear the Quartet perform Brahms.

 

As I don’t have much to report, I will convey something helpful with this Holland America ship.  All staterooms (verandah and oceanview that we have had) have a bathroom on one side and a bank of three closets on the other side, with a corridor in between, before the room opens up to the bed. There is a curtain to be drawn across the corridor, after the closets and before the bedroom area.  When one gets up in the middle of the night, there is a night light motion detector that is set off underneathe the middle closet.  It is perfect for lighting the way into the bathroom.  Then, in the bathroom there is a nice night light that is activated too.  All these night lights are helpful to navigate the way for the person seeking the bathroom, the curtain shields the light from awaking the person who is still sleeping!  Just a thoughtful design detail incorporated into the Zuiderdam!

 

A couple of things that I packed that are particularly helpful for an extended cruise:  an over the door shoe organizer and a clothesline with magnetic hooks.  The shoe organizer is used to organize sunscreen, jewellery, sunglasses, makeup etc.  When we come back from a day in the water - we hang bathings suits and rashers over the tub to drip dry.  In the morning, when they are still wet, but no longer dripping, I move the items to the clothes line hanging from metal magnetic hooks attached to the ceiling.  They dry far more effectively in the room with more air circulation (but the line is discreetly placed so you don’t feel like it is intrusive!)

 Tonight the Comedian onstage didn’t appeal to me so we will find a movie on demand to watch!  Though COVID is on the ship we are still feeling lucky to be cruising!  We continue to wear masks outside of our own room - and most other guests do too!