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!

Day 27 Lautoka, Fiji

Last night we had rough sea and I feared that we would not have our planned excursion go ahead.  Thankfully we awoke to calm seas and the Captain had no difficulties pulling the ship up alongside the pier in Lautoka, Fiji.

 

Today is the excursion I have been most excited about!  We had a cruise critic group of 28 people go out on a catamaran privately chartered with Cruisin’ Fiji.  Our destination was Castaway Caye - properly called Monuriki Island.  The Island was used in 1999 and 2000 to film the movie Cast Away starring Tom Hanks and the trip did not disappoint.

 

When we first set out in the boat we were told that we would take about one hour and twenty minutes to get to our destination.  In fact our first destination was a sand bar in the middle of the South Pacific where we had the ability to hop out of the boat to snorkel along the reef that surrounded the sand bar.  Great coral and fish to see!  We stayed at this site for about one hour.

 

After that, we set out for Castaway Island.  We learned that the island is owned by the Grandmother of our guides - it is a family business.  They have no intention of selling the island - but are happy to share it with interested parties like ours, to see the behind the scenes areas that were used for filming.  We also learned that televeision reality show “Survivor" seasons 33 through 41 have been filmed at this island too!

We were served lunch on the beach that consisted of smoked chicken, buns, fish, taro, taro leaves, salad, and fresh pineapple.  A very satisfying lunch!  

We then were taken on walking path around the island (and I could totally see familiar camera shots where people would be looking for idols in Survivor!)  Our guide pointed out male and female guava plants (and of course it is only the female plants that bear fruit).  

He then showed us to familiar pointed rock where Tom Hanks first cut open a coconut in the movie Cast Away.  Our guide proceeded to demonstrate how to open a coconut on the same rock.  We ate some of the coconut flesh from it!  We also learned how good coconut husk is to start a fire.

 

We saw the rock where “Chuck Noland” wrote that he had been stranded for 1500 days on this island.

After our island tour, we had two more hours to snorkel.  Great views all around.  I tend to get foot cramps when I am snorkelling so that is what drives me out of the water!  After about an hour, I climbed back up on the beach and had a little snooze on a mat on the sand, under simple shelter that kept the rain drops from hitting me.  It was sprinkling just a bit, on and off all day.

We all climbed back in the boat and were given a boat tour around to the other side of the island where we could see the cave that Tom Hanks used to keep out of the rain.  We learned that cave actually was on a small island just removed from the main island.

Then we headed back to Lautoka and returned back to the ship shortly after four pm.  

Our Cruise Critic group on Cast Away Island!

 

We had lots of sand in our gear to rinse out and were happy to have a hot shower! 

 

After dinner we went to the Zuiderdam singers and dancers perform “Your Song”:  the music of Elton John.  It was well done - but I was done like dinner too!  All this fresh air and exercise has me struggling to keep my eyelids open!

 

We lose an hour of sleep tonight - but tomorrow is a day at sea - so no worries!

 

 

Day 26 - Dravuni Island - Or Not?

Today we awoke with independent plans on Dravuni Island, Fiji.  We knew there were no formal excursions on Dravuni Island - it is that small!  But Dravuni Island offers great beaches and some of the most fantastic snorkelling in the world with beach access!  So J had plans to meet with another keen snorkeler.  They were both down at the tender operations meeting point close to 7:30 am - even though tender operations were not due to begin until 8 am.

 

I had plans to meet with R & C to meet at 9 am on the ship, catch a tender to the island and to walk to the school on the island.  We were told the school would be easy to find as we walked straight off the the dock where the tender boats landed and up the hill to the school.  C had brought notebooks, markers and other supplies, purchased new in her home state to deliver to the school.  I was going to make a cash donation (though I was unsure if they would be able to accept that) - but I wanted to offer support however I could.

 

While J was awaiting the first tender, he heard rumblings from staff that the sea was looking a little rough and they anticipated a formal announcement from the Captain at 8 am.

 

And indeed the Captain made an announcement at 8 am that after lowering the first tender boats to be used, the seas were proving to be rough.  So rough, in fact, that the tender boat positioned next to the open A deck area, where guests would be loaded, broke a bow line.  When this occured sea water flooded into the ship where guests would be standing in about thirty minutes time.  Once that occurred and after consulting with the local boat captain, hearing the forecast was not due to improve in the morning, the Captain made the decision for the safety of everyone, we would not be running tenders to Dravuni Island.  Our port visit to Dravuni Island had been cancelled.

 And so our plans for the day kind of melted away.  I filled the hours with a walk on the Promenade and listening to Kainoa’s presentation on the importance of leis in the Polynesian culture.  We joined R & C on the Lido Deck for lunch.  Again - they had a table and we did not!  We learned they are committed to arriving at 11:30 am to get a table when the Lido opens for lunch - while we stroll in looking for a table about noon and find all the tables full!  Well, you learn something new everyday - but the bonus is, we get to visit and laugh with friends!

The closest we came to Dravuni Island, Fiji. 

 

J played a less structured game of bridge and I stayed in the room - watching the seas get rougher throughout the day!

 

After dinner I went to the performer in the MainStage - the Canadian Ventriloquist Mike Robinson!  He had some good laughs and good interaction with the crowd - but I still prefer musical presentations!

 

So fingers crossed the tenders will get into Lautoka, Fiji tomorrow!  Tomorrow is we have an independent excursion booked with a group of cruise critic folks - all hoping to see the island where Castaway was filmed!

Day 24 At Sea - Arriving at Suva

Today was supposed to be a full day at sea - but because of the medical emergency on board, we sped our way to Suva and arrived about 3 pm in port (if not at the pier).  The medical emergency was removed by some sort of medical ambulance boat - and the patient was well enough to wave farewell to the ship.  J saw that happen shortly after we arrived.  The Grand Princess was docked at the pier at that time.

 

As we pulled into the port of Suva, Fiji, it was shocking to see a number of boats clearly wrecked upon reefs or rocks.  I pulled out the binoculars to study them - inoperable laying on their side.  It was only later when J returned to the room that he suggested that these were likely the catastrophic result of a hurricane.

This morning I went to hear Coffee with Ian.  He was in conversation with Gene, our Resident Show Director, who coordinates the Zuiderdam Singers and Dancers.  It was an interesting conversation.  Gene himself is married to a dancer on another ship.  She just finished her contract and was returning home to the US to get some snuggles in with their 14 month old child!  Talk about sacrifices for one’s family!  He did convey there will be 8 shows on this cruise, including one on Oct 25th called “Your Song” set to the music of Elton John!  He, like all the singers, dancers, Lincoln Stage performers and Cantare, was hired by RWS Entertainment out of New York City.  One piece of interesting information he shared is that the team most often rehearses on the mainstage between 11 pm and 1 am!  

If you look beyond the first 6 boats in this picture you can see the last boat turned on its side at the back of this photo!

 

J and I then went to a question and answer session on the Mainstage with Ian and Kainoa, where people asked their burning questions about our three Fijian ports.  We each had our usual routine in the afternoon, then got dressed for our ‘Dressy” night - formerly called Gala or formal.  That means a great menu in the dining room.

 

And the dining room didn’t disappoint!  I had the escargot, beef tenderloin with shrimp and flourless chocolate cake.  J reallhy enjoyed duck tonight! About 5:45 pm the Captain announced that we could go ashore this evening and some guests did that.  I was a bit unnerved to hear the additional announcement that Fijian port authorities didn’t recommend that we wear jewellery while on shore!  Evidently pick pockets are a problem here.

 

After dinner, I headed to the Mainstage to hear Cantare’s final performance this cruise.  This group of four singers will go and perform on another ship, having delivered three great shows here!  V & R from Vancouver came and sat next to me for the show so we had a nice visit at the conclusion.  The internet system is down this evening so I may be delayed in posting this - we will see!  I need to get busy and pack my bag to go tubing down a river in Fiji tomorrow!

 

Day 25 - Suva, Fiji

We awoke in the city of Suva, Fiji this morning.  Holland America dropped off a letter to passenger staterooms stating “we’ve experienced a full satellite outage for internet and phone services” - so as a result - posting on my blog will be spotty at best!  We are in Fiji for the next three days - so I will faithfully write, but you may not be able to read this blog until October 25th!

 

We booked an independent excursion with River Tubing Fiji.  What a way to fabulous experience Fiji.    There was a van and a small bus transporting 37 guests from the ship by land for about 32 km.  One guest on our bus asked if we could stop at a roadside fruit stand so the bus driver obliged.  I hopped out and bought a mango and banana for $1 and 2 bags of roasted peanuts, and one bag of boiled peanuts for $2 - perfect snacks and we supported a couple of local Fijians!

 

Once we got to the starting point on the Navua River where River Tubing Fiji has a home base, we were given lifejackets and sorted what we wanted to leave behind (dry clothes) and got organized into longboat groups.  We were assigned a longboat with V & R from Vancouver (Abbostford really) and a couple from the USA.  Our longboat had a Yamaha 40 hp engine and a driver named Delse as well as a guide named Patrick.  There were at least a half dozen other boats heading upriver too.  The scenery was breathtaking! The boat tooks us up the Navua River about 20 km through meandering rapids, passing cascading waterfalls, tropical rainforest through a deep gorge.  

 

Our furthest destination upriver was to stop and visit a typical Fijian village - it was home to 30 people.  Rosie told us about ordinary life here.  The men stay in the village, women leave the village when they marry.  The youngest in the village is a few months, the oldest is a man who is 54!  I suspect most people on the tour were older than their oldest man!  She talked about the crops they grow including fruits and vegetables, including cassava (a root vegetable that we have eaten before in bread) and guavas.  They eat fish from the river and we saw a fish jump about 6 feet out of the river when we were paddling downstream.  They have wild boars in the forest so when one is killed the entire village must eat it so it doesn’t go to waste! 

Delse our longboat captain!

 

The local children go to school two villages upriver, where the medical centre is located.  Children must stay at that village Monday through Friday with care provided at the dormitary by the villages on a rotating basis.  They all learn English.  Most students who end their education at grade 13 stay in village.  Those who continue with University move to the city.  About half of the students stay in the village, continuing with traditional ways of life.

 

We then left the village and returned to the longboats travelling downstream to a waterfall where Holland America would allow organized tours to visit.  A number of people chose to swim in the pool underneathe this waterfall, J included.  I thought getting soaking wet would make me cold as the sun wasn’t shining (it was cloudy and a bit rainy).  The path had been built up with lots of concrete and rope handrails to make you feel more comfortable approaching the waterfall!

A view of the village as we were departing.

 

After the waterfall we hopped in the longboats again and went to our lunch destination alongside the river.  Our lunch was a classic Fijian meal that they would enjoy themselves.  It included chicken drumsticks, sausage, Fish stew served over Fijian fiddleheads, cassava, salad, bread and pineapple.  It was delicious - I ate every last morsel.

 

After lunch we had a safety briefing about tubing down the river.  Feet first when entering rapids, paddle backwards when trying to cover a distance.  It was such fun!  We spent about an hour floating down the river.  At times the guides would gather us together to go over gentle rapids together.  At the end when the river was more gentle we all joined together in a big group and the Fijians sang about several songs in four part harmony - all while we are floating down the river in this amazing scenery (used to film the second Anaconda movie!).  Once our floating came to an end, we carried our tubes back up to the River Tubing Fiji ‘office’ and changed into our dry clothes.  We gave all the money we were carrying as a tip - there were probably 20 people that helped make this an incredible day - and we wanted to let them know we appreciate their efforts!  We learned that this company makes a donation to the village every time they bring a group tour as a way of thanking them.  The company also invites all the guides to come for breakfast before their day of work - so they really treat their employees well. 

 

Our bus driver returned us to the ship where we hastily showered and had a cup of tea to warm up before supper.

And supper was again a sterling affair.   John had the lamb, I had turkey dinner with a wonderful chocolate dessert.  Tonight’s Mainstage is the playing of the movie Castaway - filmed in this region.  We have watched it while on the ship so I will instead write my blog and get an early to bed night.

 

If you ever visit Suva Fiji, we would highly recommend booking River Tubing Fiji!   

 

Day 23 At Sea

This morning we awoke to find a Health Advisory Update from the Captain outside our door.  We weren’t particularly special, all guests received one.  The letter indicated that they have noticed an increasing number of COVID cases amongst guests onboard.  Staff have always worn masks while on duty.  Holland America is once again strongly advising guests wear a masks indoors.    The letter also encouraged hand washing and to report to medical if you notice any COVID symptoms!  This information correlates with our knowledge from a fellow Canadian who told us his bridge partner from a few days ago tested positive.  We generally would wear masks in the Mainstage area or any other place where lots of people congregate for a period of time - and now we are even more conscientious about wearing a mask even when just walking the hallway!

 

J went for his usual workout this morning and we both went to hear Kainoa speak about our next three ports in Fiji - Suva, Dravuni Island and Lautoka.

 

We had the good fortune to meet our friends from dinner up on the Lido deck while eating lunch.  They had found a table in the shade (tough to come by at lunch time!) and invited us to join them.  We told R that they had rocky road icecream for dessert - knowing that was his favourite!  So we all sat and laughed and visited while periodically getting up to get a serving of icecream!

 

J went to bridge and I spent some time in the Crowsnest before going to the excursion desk to cancel an excursion that has been severely modified from the original itinerary.  Then Mama Mia seemed like a great movie to watch in our stateroom!

 

J and I went to the Sea View Pool area at the back of the ship and I ordered a virgin pina coloda to enjoy in the fresh air (well almost fresh - smoking is allowed on the starboard side back there so we tried to stay away from that area - but we wanted a table in the shade!)  We visited with another cruise critic member who is travelling solo from the Kitchener Waterloo area!

 While back in our stateroom, getting ready for dinner, at 5:15 the captain came on to make an unexpected announcement.  He said we might have noticed we increased speed from 10 knots to 19 knots as there is a medical emergency onboard and they are trying to get to Suva a day earlier than expected.  So the plan is to arrive in Suva tomorrow by about 3 pm (instead of the following day at 8 am).  The unfortunate guest will be transported off the ship (likely on a tender) at that time.  Then the ship will pull up to the pier somewhere between 7 and 8 pm tomorrow night.  Another ship is at the pier until 6 pm, so that is why we are not pulling in as soon as we arrive at port.  So that is very sad news for one guest who has the misfortune to end his/her cruise early - and hopefully that doesn’t mean the patient doesn’t lose his/her life.

 

J had his favourite meal of the trip so far tonight.  When he saw the menu he thought of a three course Italian meal and he settled on a Trio of Salmon, Fettuccine Fruitti de Mares pasta and the Mustard Roasted Leg of Lamb.  Every course was wonderful and the combination of great tastes and too many calories made him very happy.  Generally we find Holland America portion sizes appropriately small for the amount of energy we are expending.  Offering small portions in the dining room is a good way for Holland America to miminize food waste.

 

I then went to the MainStage, where I write my blog while waiting for the performance to begin.  I found a counting error on my blog so you will note I am now accurately writing the blog for Day 23!  The performance was the Zuiderdam singers and dancers and they performed “Encore”, funnily, for the first time!  All the shows on the Zuiderdam are being performed for the first time since a big choreography revamp.

 I hope everybody is staying safe and sound where they are!

 

 

Day 22 Apia, Samoa

The city of Apia is in Western Samoa (not to be confused with American Samoa) and has a population of about 40,000.  It is on the island of Upolu.  

 

When we first pulled up to the pier about 9 am - there was a whole host of singers, drummers and dancers performing, entertaining our ship.  We were fortunate to be on the starboard side of the ship and had a perfect sight line from our verandah.  We knew we were on the same tour as V & R from Vancouver and their room was on the port side - just two doors down from our previous room.  We phoned them up and invited them to watch the welcome from our verandah and they appreciated the call and clapped and whistled along with us!

 

We had a wonderful independent bus tour with Samoa Holiday and Events.  Robert was our tour guide and driver and was excellent.  He didn’t talk the entire duration - but he was happy to answer the variety of questions we posed.  We had 17 guests on our van/bus and it had beautiful big windows and the all important air conditioning for our comfort!

 

This country is stunningly beautiful.  They have palm trees growing in the wild - not purposefully planted for looks.  We stopped at Lemafa - a cattle and Sheep research Development station - to look at the view.  We then drove to Sopoaga Water  Falls where we met up with about 4 other vans from the ship - so that stop felt a bit crowded but a pretty stop just the same.

 

We then headed to the Sua Trench - now that was a sight we will not experience elsewhere!  This is an underwater cave where the overhead roof has collapsed in in two places and allow you to climb down a ladder to get into the pool of water.  The cave is still connected to the ocean and has a small amount of current in it as a result.  What a cool experience!

 

We then drove to Lalomanu Beach where we were fed lunch.  J bought a Taula beer that was 22 ounces and 7 % alcohol for $5 US!  The best tropical beer he has ever drank!  I bought a banana smoothie for the same price - all helping the Samoans recover from a decimating 3 years of having no ships visit.  The first ship to visit came 2 days ago, and then the Zuiderdam visited today.  We were asked to wear masks everywhere on the island.  (We removed them for the swimming part!)  Lunch consisted of BBQ chicken, fish, cole slaw and taro (a starchy root vegetable commonly used on the island!)  Swimming was on a white sand beach and a beautiful temperature!

 

We then drove through the Alepata District to head back towards Le Mafa Pass.  We saw a game of cricket going on as we headed on down to Piula Cave Pool to go for a freshwater swim - in cool water like at the cottage in Northern Ontario!  It was a pool where water was flowing out of the forest into the ocean.  I chose to put my feet in and sit in the hot sun!

 

Back on the ship we enjoyed dinner and entertainment by pianist Hyperion Knight in the MainStage.  Then I had to write up my blog and hopefully we will have time to watch a movie before bed!  

 

In a world where we can be anything, be kind!  Samoa was filled with kind, friendly people!  What a privilege to visit this wonderful country!

 

Day 21 At Sea

So today was our last day at sea before we visit Apia, Samoa.  We had a time change last night - so I am thoroughly confused about what time and day it is back home!  We are now one day ahead less five hours from our home city!  We went for a mile walk on the Promenade before breakfast, which is three laps around the ship.

 

I am getting smarter about going to hear the fount of Polynesian, Kainoa, speak!  A person needs to go listen to the speaker (talking about the Big Bang) before Kainoa on the MainStage to secure a seat!  Then we can see and hear all the suggestions Kainoa will say about visiting different ports.  Though this cruise is called “Tales of the South Pacific” tomorrow in Samoa, will actually be our first port in the South Pacific!  Hawaii is part of the Polynesian islands, but they reside in the North Pacific!

 

Part of Kainoa’s educational talk showing us Apia, Samoa where we will visit tomorrow!

 J and I decided to eat lunch at the Lido Buffet and we had a much wider menu selection as a result!  And we found friends to sit down and eat with!  Then two other friends found us and thanked us for connecting them to book an independent snorkelling excursion in Bora Bora.  They were kind enough to give us two Mariner Drink tickets.  Since we don’t have the alcohol package - those are worth two free drinks to J!  Not necessary, but very kind indeed!  As Bora Bora was on the itinerary, then off, then back on - guests have been scrambling to make arrangements to experience that wonderful port!

 

I actually had some volunteer work to catch up on this afternoon, so I did that while J played bridge! 

 

My dinner was a delicious meal of salmon with spinach and a beautifully seasoned dressing.  We always order an extra plate of vegetables to share - I am pretty sure we are the only two onboard to order that item (not on the menu) every single night!

 

Then we secured seats in the Mainstage area to watch "Cantare: All In”.  They are a group of four male singers that have amazing voices and do simple dance steps to enhance the experience (think classy Boy Band)!  We were here 1/2 an hour early and I am surprised at how full the theatre was when we arrived!

 

Day 20 At Sea

We awoke today at the blissful hour of 7 am.  This new room has no loud sounds to awaken us early!

 

This is what was printed in The Daily Program:  ”On October 17, Zuiderdam will cross the International Date Line, resulting in the ship’s clocks being turned forward 24 hours.  Oct 17 will not exist and we will move from October 16 to October 18.”  So we skipped Monday and went straight to Tuesday carpets being found in all the elevators!

 

Today was also the day that we crossed the equator.  At 10:20 am Captain Frank van der Hoeven announced that we just crossed from the Northern Hemisphere to the Southern Hemisphere.  J and I were enjoying our verandah and decided to capture the moment in time with a photo!

 

The usual bridge game happened in the afternoon for J.  I went and soaked my feet in the Terrace Pool, and ran into two sets of Cruise Critic friends.  Then I went to hear the Quartet at Lincoln Centre stage, followed by Afternoon Tea in the Dining Room.  I happened to be assigned a table with the woman who is the partner of J’s bridge partner!  Out of a ship full of 1600 guests, it is surprising to have made her acquaintence!

 

Dinner was followed by reading in our room (before a library e-book goes poof from my iPad!), watching how amazingly quickly the sun sets at the equator, then watching the movie Cast Away.  We are watching the movie with renewed interest, as one of our excursions in Lautoka, Fiji (in one week) is a boat trip to the island where the movie, starring Tom Hanks, was filmed!

 

We appreciate how lucky we are every day!

Day 19 At Sea

So after I closed off my blog last night, we received a phone call from the front desk offering us another verandah room on the starboard side of the hip, fairly central but a bit further back.  We thanked them for the offer and said we were too tired to move at that time, so we would stay in our room and make the decision in the morning.

 

Following the suggestion of our room steward, I slept with ear plugs and heard less banging as a result, however J did not and he was awakened by the banging at 5 am and couldn’t get back to sleep. So we both decided to accept the offer of the new room being offered, but would move a bit later in the morning.  

 

We went for breakfast on the Lido deck then to church at 8 am (because it is Sunday!)  After that we checked in with Guest Services and  told them we would like to accept the offer of the new room, so they made new keys for us.  We returned to our room and packed up all our belongings and began shuttling them on the same floor, to the opposite side of the ship (where no banging sounds were heard!)  We said farewell to our old room stewards (Made and Alan), gave them a tip and met our new room stewards who seem just as obliging!  The move took about an hour and we now have everything put in its place in our new room!  J is pleased because this time - he gets more space on his side of the bed with the desk and sitting area right next to where he sleeps!

 

I then headed to the mainstage to hear Kainoa speak about animals of Hawaii and French Polynesia, followed by Ian who gave a presentation on whales - mostely orcas and humpbacks. J joined me for the latter presentation.

 

I then stood in line for lunch (about 15 minutes in advance of the dining room opening) and found I was probably tenth in line.  They open the dining room 5 minutes early!  That is how it is so full when we arrive about 5 minutes after noon!  We got an amazing back window table for two where we enjoyed cobb salad with salmon as well as a ricotta stuffed pasta!

 

J went to his usual bridge this afternoon while I went to hear the Quartet perform on Lincoln Centre Stage before a walk on the promenade!

 

Tonight was a Gala night so we got dressed in our finest and enjoyed surf and turf!  The lobster was cooked perfectly! 

 

 After supper I headed to the MainStage where Hyperion Knight, a pianist performed.  His show was so much more than piano - there were visuals projected on screens behind him and appropriate storytelling to go along with the songs from Gershwin to Bohemian Rhapsody!  

 Tomorrow we cross the International Date Line so we skip Monday, October 17th on our schedule entirely!  So we will see what Day 19 holds for us at Sea!

 

Day 18 At Sea

Today we awoke about 6 am with no need to be awake that early as this is a day at sea, but it really is habit!

 

As there is no need to report on something exciting today, I will instead convey an issue that began several days ago.  One evening about 7 pm, I was sitting in our room, typing my blog as I often do, and I began to hear somebody slamming their door in the hallway.  It sounded like I was in a hotel with a young hockey team and they were goofing around in and out of rooms slamming doors.  After 15 minutes, I stood our in the hallway to see who was making the noise and it was then that I discovered the sound was coming directly across the hallway from our room.  Directly across the hallways from us are no doors, no cabins, just inner ship mechanics I guess.

 

So I held my hands on the wall and felt the reverberation of the banging sound on the other side of the wall.  I called down to guest services to report the sound and they said they would send somebody up to investigate.  A guest services person arrived and witnessed the sound for herself and said she would report the issue to maintenance.  About 8 pm, the banging continued about every 15 seconds, so I called back to guest services.  They reported that the issue would be resolved in the night.

 

About 9 pm they called me and offered another room on the same floor to sleep for the night to get away from the noise.  J had already fallen asleep on the bed - so he wasn’t bothered by the sound, but I was, so I took them up on the offer.  I went and slept in an identical room half a ship away from our current room.  By morning the sound had disappeared.  Hooray!  We did have another guest come and knock on our door that next morning to tell us he was staying at the far end of the hallway, and the banging sound was bothering him!  We told him we thought it had been resolved - and at least felt we weren’t being too demanding asking to have the banging sound addressed!

 

As a kind gesture, Holland America delivered us a plate of chocolate dipped strawberries to our stateroom that night.

 

 

Fast forward to the current day.  I was awakened in the night last night, by the same loud banging across the hall.  I am starting to see a pattern, that perhaps, higher speeds on days at sea (rather than slower speeds between islands while we were in Hawaii) seem to result in the banging sound.  So J and I made a trip back to guest services today to advise them that the banging sound had returned.  They told us that they will report the issue to mechanical and let us know the outcome.  Five hours have passed since we reported it - and we still have banging!  Stay tuned.

 

We enjoyed breakfast in the dining room - where it was very busy.  I then headed to an informal coffee hour with Cruise & Travel Director Ian Page where he chatted for  30 minutes about the upcoming drydock of the Zuiderdam and answered questions.  We learned there are 1600 passengers onboard and 700 crew.  That is a ration of 2.3 guests per crew and those crew members are kept very busy working hard to serve guests.

 

I then headed to the mainstage where the Shore Excursion Head talked about our upcoming ports including: Apia, Samoa; Suva, Fiji;Dravuni Island, Fiji; Lautoka, Fiji; Nuku’alofa, Tonga; Avatiu, Rarotonga and Aitutaki, Cook Islands.  At least two of these ports have no ship’s excursions available, guests are simply able to take a tender to the island to explore a beach independently!  It was while sitting up in the third floor of this crowded MainStage theatre, that I sat for the first time without a mask and was very conscious of people coughing on either side of me and behind me.  Get me out of here!  I want my mask!!!

 

Lunch in the dining room was lovely, then J headed off to bridge and I headed back to the room to get a headstart on this blog today!  Then I enjoyed the good old-fashioned movie Grease on my stateroom TV in honour of Olivia Newton-John!

 

When J returned from bridge, I discovered one of our neighbours two doors down was packed up and moving rooms with the assistance of a room steward.  She was not happy with the noise and had been advised the sound cannot be resolved before the end of the cruise.  J and I called down to Guest Services and were again told our concern was being sent up the chain of command to resolve the pounding sound in the hallway.

 

We then enjoyed dinner and had our usual laughs talking with R & C at the table next to us.  We really enjoy their company - though we sit at separate tables!  R suggested we take those extra pillows from the bed and encourage the ship’s officers to tie them onto the structural component that is banging so that the sound can be dampened!

 

When we returned from supper the banging was less frequent, though just as loud - so we will stay put for the time being!

 

 

We sit at the same table every night for dinner.  Here is J with Wibi (assistant) and Juma (waiter).  They treat us exceptionally well!

 

 

 

 

Day 17 Kona, Hawaii

As we went to bed last night, I started thinking about the tight timing we had on our planned excursion today.  We had tickets booked for a 12:15 ship excursion to go snorkelling with Captain Zodiac.  But the all aboard call was 3:30 pm - so I needed to check the details of our excursion.  That is when I discovered our start time had been changed from 12:15 to 7:45 am!  Yikes - that, meant we didn’t have a relaxing morning, rather another 6:15 alarm in order to eat breakfast and pack our snorkelling bag to go ashore.  Glad I read about that last night and not when we awoke this morning!

 

We gathered with 62 others in the MainStage and caught the first tender (after staff) to go ashore.  Kona has a large pier, but it is being restored so we had to tender to go ashore.  Each Zodiac took about 16 guests and we had two Canadian who we met through Cruise Critic as well as 3/4 of the quartet (that perform on the Lincoln Centre Stage) in our boat.  Captain Ashleigh and First Mate Kate were our gudies today.  

 

We had hardly left the pier when we spotted a pod of spinner dolphins.  We learned that spinner dolphins actually sleep during the day and swim while they sleep.  They were in pairs of two, which allows them the ability to use the right half of the brain on the right side and the left half of the brain on the left side to move in unison.  They come to the surface to breathe as they are mammals, and they did that in pretty consistent cycles.  They are capable of staying underwater for 20 minutes at a time, but they tend to do that when they are hunting and awake.

 

We then headed out 3.5 miles offshore, where more wildlife might be spotted.  Other boats had gathered, then departed.  We hung around and were rewarded with some amazing views short finned pilot whales, who also were in a sleeping phase.  Captain Ashleigh cut the engine and the pilot whales just swam towards our boat.  We watched them up close for about 10 minutes.  Awesome!

 

 

After we saw the pilot whales we learned that an earthquake measuring 5.0 on the richter scale had just occured on Kona Island!  The other boats who had seen the pilot whales first, said suddenly the whales took a deep dive downward - about the time of the earthquake, like they sensed a change in the environment!  We felt nothing (and later learned friends on land hadn’t felt the earthquake either!)

 

We then went boated on over to Kealakekua Bay Marine Preserve.  You need to be a competent snorkeler here (and we are) as you jump out of the boat into 15 - 80 feet of water to go explore.  In addition to snorkelling equipment, Captain Zodiac had pool noodles to offer if you were nervous about being in the water.  As this is a Marine Preserve, you had to wear Reef friendly sunscreen (we did) and you are not allowed to touch anything!  Not the fish, not the coral, nothing.  As experienced snorkelers, we had no trouble swimming around for an hour and spotting all kinds of fish.  We saw moorish idols, barracuda and moray eels, to name a few.  J saw a tuna!

 

There was a monument to Captain Cook donated by Great Britain to Hawaii.  Captain Cook died here.  Interestingly, when we did our driving tour of Kauai, we saw Waimea Bay, where Captain Cook first set foot on a Hawaiian Island (the first white person to do so).

 

After an hour of snorkelling, we climbed back in the boat and started heading back towards the pier.  We stopped to view some parrots nesting in the walls of the volcanic rock right along the shore.  We saw more spinner dolphins and had some fun playing in the waves with the boat!

 

As we arrived back at shore, we noted all kinds of people swimming long distances in the ocean.  These are people perhaps still in town leftover from last week’s Ironman Triathlon.  Captain Ashleigh told us 30,000 people were in town for this intense competition (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and 26 mile run).  Cruise Ships are not allowed to come into town when the Triathlon is going on!

 

 

Swimmers practicing for lengthy swims in the ocean!

 

Once ashore, J returned to the ship to eat lunch.  I saw a long line for a return tender so decided to go into town to explore a bit!  J waited about 12 minutes for a tender.  I ended up walking on 30 minutes later without a wait.  Holland America has learned how to get people safely on a tender.  They have two staff on the tender boat and two on land (or on the ship) aiding each guest that steps on a tender.  The ocean did not look rough - but there was about a 5 foot swell, so that meant a lot of movement on the tender boat when you are trying to step on.

 

After lunch and a nap, J and I went up on the back terrace deck to enjoy the sun and lots of folks milling around.  We met two more friends from Cruise Critic on the 10th Deck where we had some laughs visiting.  We learned that R & E always go to the piano bar for entertainment at night, and I was saying I wanted to go to the MainStage where Cantare was performing, but I didn’t know anything about it.  A young man on deck chair right near us spoke up and said that Cantare would be performing songs from the Stage and Screen.  He introduced himself at Falu from the Netherlands as one of the performers of Cantare!

 

And so after a appetizer of hawaiian fruit and chocolate dessert (and okay main course of Marlin in between), we went to see the show Cantare.  First time I have seen a standing ovation in the Mainstage!  It was a top notch show - and Falu was a great singer!  There were four men singing different songs from Grease to sounding out the rhythms of Chariots of Fire, or Jaws or whatever!  Great entertainment!

 

We then followed the advice of R & E and went and checked out the piano bar.  Talent here too, and lots of people singing along to familiar songs.  The male and female each sing and play the piano - with minimal music to follow!  Impressive.

 

Well that is the excitement of Hawaii behind us - and we now have four or five days at sea ahead of us (Kind of hard to figure out as we cross the International Date line and we supposedly miss October 17th entirely!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 16 Kahului, Maui

Today we were scheduled to arrive in port at 7 am.  That should have provided ample time to meet up with our independent excursion at 8:15 am.  But alas, there were difficulties with the port staff being onsite at 7 am.  We called Hike Maui, the company with whom we booked our hike to explore the Haleakala Crater.  We explained that we weren’t allowed to get off the ship yet.  Interestingly, they were under the impression that our ship was not scheduled to arrive in port until 8:30 am.  That might explain why port staff weren’t onsite for us at 7 am!  Kim at the office suggested a closer meeting point, and she was in contact with Jacob, our driver and hiking guide today.  So as soon as Holland America announced we were cleared to get off the ship at 8:25 am, we rushed outside to walk to meet our tour!

The road from the port to the crater rises 10,000 feet over 40 miles and is the shortest paved road in the world, climbing 10,000 feet.  The drive began going through orchards in areas, previously used to grow sugar cane.  As we drove up we saw the Bike Maui excursions and we were so glad that we were not successfully booked that cycling excursion, which we originally wanted to do.  The many tight corners and steep drop-offs held little appeal to cycle at high speeds!

 

Our excursion included the Haleakala National Park admission of $15 per person.  At the very top, there is a huge observatory that is used by the military and academics - and it is not open to the public - but cool to see just the same!

 

From the Haleakala Visitor Centre, we hiked the Sliding Sands Trail (Keonehe’ehe’e Trail) which was about .8 miles with 450 feet of elevation gain on the return.  It offers stunning views of the Haleakala crater - but was obscured at times with clouds.

 Upon returning to the van, Jacob offered us our lunches - turkey sandwiches for J and I, but our snacks included lovely oranges, apple bananas, bags of cheese puffs & crunchies as well as macademia nuts.  

 

We then descended 2,000 feet to the Halemau’u Trail where we hoped to get a close up view of the crater.  The hike travelled through vegetation lower down on the volcano where precipitation levels supported shrubs.  We saw the plants that natives call sandalwood growing!  Our descent further took us to the edge of the crater, offering spectacular views of clouds!  While our earlier hike felt quite warm, this hike felt a bit cooler as the clouds totally blanketed the sun.  Somehow, I still managed to get a sunburn on the back of my knees!  I know where I need to be more careful when applying sunscreen next time!

 Jacob was good tell us stories and history of the area, and to allow a little quiet time on the 50 minute drive back to the city at the end of the tour.

 

J and I decided to go for a swim on the terrace back pool - to clean up, and then went for a real shower after that.

 

Supper was lovely (caesar salad and salmon with a great chocolate cake tonight!).  The mainstage was a BBC Earth film called Seven Planets with the Zuiderdam orchestra performing live.

 

Tomorrow we will visit our last Hawaiian port of Kona, back on the big island!

Day 15, Nawiliwili, Kauai

The sunrises about 6:30 AM these days, so when we were pulling into Kauai just before 7 AM, we had a spectacular view of the island from our ports-side verandah.

 

Today our destination was Waimea Canyon, which is considered the Grand Canyon of Hawaii (at least according to the writings of Mark Twain, so the name stuck!).  The ship had an excursion to the Waimea Canyon - but it only allowed you 15 minutes at the lookout.  But J wanted to option to go for a hike to explore the vegetation and topography, so we rented a car with Enterprise. A car rental in Kauai is not cheap - $166 US for the day, but the freedome it provided us was worth it.

 

We had paid about $12 for a Gypsy Guide tour and downloaded it onto my phone.  This became our personal tour guide which identified our location and told us about the sites to see around us and the history of the island.  It was well worth it!

 

Our first stop was at the Waimea Canyon Lookout, with an elevation of 3400 feet. (I should mention we paid $10 to park the car and $5 for each occupant - so $20 total revenue for Hawaiian parks). Here we ran into friends on the ship’s bus excursion and they told us clouds were moving in so we ought to hustle to see the viewpoint.  We knew the forecast called for rain beginning at noon.  And so we saw a smattering of colour that hinted at the beauty of the rock colour beneathe the clouds.

 

We carried on down the Waimea Canyon a few more miles and saw a roadside pullout, big enough for two cars - and here we got to see the full majesty of the Waimea Canyon. The clouds had not arrived here yet.  We would not have seen this view from the bus - because there wasn’t space to park the bus in this spot.  The road is filled with twists and turns (making our friend feel sick on the bus) and absolutely no shoulder for safety.  So we were happy to get this stop in for the view!

 

We drove a few more miles down the road and pulled into Pu'u Hinahina lookout and this is where we planned to hike the Canyon Trail.  Our Gypsy Guide suggested we hike the Cliff Trail (1 mile total - of difficult hiking) to get a great view.  And so we set out on the Canyon Trail for the first 1/2 mile (which ultimately connects with the Cliff Trail).  We descended down into the Canyon, hiking for 30 minutes before we joined up with the Cliff Trail.  At that point, a person could go see the Waimea Canyon view, or descend further to see two waterfalls AND the view.  I made the decision to go see the view and J continued down.  And when I arrived at my view….all I saw was cloud!!!:(  I stayed for 15 minutes in case the clouds shifted, and they did ever so minutely, but no enough to see the glory of the colour of the red rock.  And so I returned back to the parking lot in about 35 minutes of hiking.  J didn’t make it all the way to the waterfalls, because he was worried about rain beginning to fall in earnest and knew the red earth would become slippery when wet.  

 

When I was about 5 minutes away from the parking lot, two women (who were about my age and fitness level) stopped and asked me how the view was.  I told them 30 minutes out, only clouds to see, 35 - 40 minutes return.  They quickly made the decision to turn around and save themselves the effort!  I was still pleased we did the hike, it was good exercise!

 

After than drove further up the road to Kokee  Lodge for lunch.  We ordered a delicious salad and chile for lunch and a mango lemonade! By the time we left the restaurant, it started to rain.  Our Gypsy Guide told us that we were heading up the road to one of the wettest places on earth, Mount Waialeale gets 450 inches of rain per year (that is 37.5 feet!).  So as Gypsy said this, it started to rain in earnest…. and we looked for a place to turn around and head back down the canyon, becuase we knew we would have no views after that!

 

We left Waimea Canyon for the day and started the return trip back to the ship.  We stopped in the town of Waimea and I bought some pineapple and mango to snack on.  I stopped and tried on a few dresses in a local shop.  We then carried on to Salt Pond to see a local beach - and it was there I discovered I didn’t have my Tilley Hat!  So after 15 minutes on the beach enjoying watching families play in the waves and surfers further out, we returned to the town of Waimea to look for my only wide brimmed hat that I brought on this tropical vacation!  Back to the little shop where I tried on dresses hurriedly over my shorts and tank top, and I found my hat!!!  Hooray!

Salt Pond Beach - a local hangout!

 

So we continued on back to the car rental drop off, then caught a shuttle back close to the ship.  J went straight to the ship and I looked at a few shops.  And I bought a dress!

 

I then boarded the ship and caught up with J.  After a lovely catch up call with our youngest son, we went for dinner.  I decided to forgo the entertainment on the Mainstage (another comedian) and come back to pack for our "Hike Maui" trip tomorrow and write my blog.  It is now 8:45 pm so we might even have time to watch a movie tonight!

 

 

Day 14 Honolulu A Second Day!

We had another early start today.  The alarm was set for 5:40 am as we had tickets to climb Diamond Head at 7 am.  Yes I chose the time slot that early! (to beat the heat!).  The earliest one can eat breakfast on the ship is 6 am.  Muffins and danishes are all that is offered in the Lido Buffet at that time, but you can order room service for delivery as early as 6 am too.  So we ordered bacon and eggs, fruit, granola and yogurt to start the day off right!  Our plan was to leave the ship at 6:30 am - but a last minute scurry to find our tickets delayed us till 6:45 am.  

 

We caught a taxi to Diamond Head and arrived at 7:15.  Big sigh of relief when they scanned the picture of our tickets as the QR code let us through the gate!  (I wasn’t so sure that was going to work!)  Reservations are now required to climb Diamond Head State Monument.  Tickets cost $5 apiece, but it is the fact that tickets are generally sold out that makes them sold valuable. The hike is only about 1.3 km with an elevation gain of 171 metres - so the hike is short and steep.  The temperature and shade offered by the Crater wall made it comfortable to climb early in the day.  We were both dripping sweat as we neared the summit!  

We climbed up in under 30 minutes, enjoyed 20 minutes or so at the summit, then climbed down.

 

With its panoramic view from Koko Head to Wai’anae, the summit of Diamond Head was a ideal site for the coastal defense of Oahu.  Today Le’ahi (Daimond Head)is the most recongized landmark in Hawaii.  It was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1968 as an excellent example of a tuff cone.

 

We then decided to walk down to Waikiki beach, take a few pictures, then catch public bus 42 back to the ship.  We showered, had lunch and J decided to stay on the ship and I knew I wanted to return to Waikiki beach to go for a swim and do a bit of shopping!  So that is what we each did!  Waikiki beach and playing in the waves was a perfect way to enjoy an hour in Honolulu!

I got very familiar with bus route 42, but bus 20 would have worked too!  And each time I travelled it was $3 - a good deal!

 

I returned to the ship in time for supper and then we watched the remake of the movie South Pacific on the MainStage!  Once I finish tonight’s blog - it will be lights out for me!  My 23,000 steps have tuckered me out!  The ship has an all aboard time of 11 pm tonight - so guests have had 2 full days to enjoy Honolulu. Tomorrow we visit the island of Kauai!

Day 13 Honolulu, Oahu

Today we had a plan that required the ship to arrive at port on time (maybe even early) so that we could catch a cab or an uber to visit Pearl Harbour and use our preassigned ticket time of 9 am.  The ship wasn’t cleared to unload passengers until 8:20 am.  We had what I thought was to be a 15 minute cab ride to the USS Arizona.  That turned out to be a 25 minute cab ride and we arrived at the gate at 8:50 am and had to hustle to get where we needed to go.  We arrived at 8:59 when the last call was made for the 9 AM boat ride out to the USS Arizona.  The ticket taker asked why we were cutting it so close!  We didn’t have a second to spare - but we made it!

 

And so we visited the site where 1700 men are buried at sea within the USS Arizona.  It was appropriate that we were visiting this site on Canadian Thanksgiving - because we have a lot for which we can be thankful.  That fateful day, December 7, 1941 Japan mounted a very successful attack on the US naval fleet and over the course of two hours decimated much of the military strength of the USA and killed 2400 men in the process. Though the US was trying to remain neutral at the time (and in fact just the day before President Roosevelt had sent a telegram to Emperor Hirohito of Japan, encouraging peace between the two countries), the day after the attack on Pearl Harbour, Roosevelt acknolwedged this was an unequivocal act of war.

 

 

The Pearl Harbour Monument is beautifully developed and free to visit (the tickets we secured charged a nominal $1 administrative charge to book the time slot).

 

After Pearl Harbour, we took public bus #40 ($3 charge for adults) to the Ala Moana shopping mall.  J was trying to find a snorkel - and that was a bust - in the city of Honolulu!!! We bought reef friendly sunscreen then walked to pier#2 where our shipped was docked.  It was 28 C today with high humidity so we were dripping with sweat after our walk back to the ship, that took maybe an hour.

 

We gratefully boarded the ship and appreciated the air conditioning!  After phone calls to my family, we got dressed for a ‘dressy’ dinner.  And how wonderful, they had a full Canadian Thanksgiving dinner on the menu!  We both ordered the butternut squash soup and turkey dinner with all the trimmings.

 

This is an overnight stop in Honolulu so the ship is a bit quieter. As such, they only had one evening show featuring Polynesian dancers and drummers and the theatre was packed 25 minutes before start time!

 

Tomorrow we have an early start with plans to hike Diamond Head!

Day 12 Hilo, Hawaii

Today we arrived at the Big Island of Hawaii, in the city of Hilo.  We were awake about 5:30 am and so we had plenty of time to get breakfast from the Lido Buffet before the Sail in Commentary began at 7 am in the Crowsnest.

 

We had booked an excursion with Holland America to visit Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.  We were in a relatively small group - travelling with 14 others in a mercedes van.  Our guide Derek was excellent.

 

Hilo, Hawaii receives the most rain of any city in the USA - more than 145 inches per year (that is more than 12 feet!).  So we felt blessed indeed that we had sunshine at the top of the Kilauea Caldera!  The Kilauea Volcano is the youngest and most active volcano on the island of Hawaii.  This volcano had a signficant eruption in 2018, beginning in May and seeping lava down the mountain until July.  Seven hundred homes were destroyed in the process and more than 800 acres of land was formed with the spilling of lava into the ocean.

 

We got the thrill of walking through the Thurston Lava Tube where lava once flowed!  

The tour was operated by Kailani Tours Hawaii, which is actually based out of Kona, a two hour drive away.  We visited Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut “Farm” - where we received samples to try, as there were different flavours to enjoy.  I bought container to enjoy during the rest of the cruise!

 

For lunch we stopped at a winery where the wine drinkers were given 4 types of wine and two types of mead.  We got to try samples of chilled white tea, and hot black tea - and for the non-drinkers, we got to enjoy a full size cup of whatever tea we liked best!  We then were served a family style picnic lunch outside, underneath tents - to protect you from the sun or the rain, should that have been an issue!

 

We then stopped at Rainbow Falls, which was very brown in colour, but certainly easy to access.  Our second last stop included a stop at the market downtown where I bought a couple of avocadoes and Aloha ‘Love’ Flowers, properly called Anthuriums.  I used these flowers to augment the bouquet we have had in our stateroom since the beginning of the trip (and the dying flowers were replaced!).  Our very last stop was at Big Island Candies, which was all about cookies and macademia nuts! (though they did have coffee and ice cream for sale too!)

 

Tomorrow we arrive in Honolulu, Oahu and have early morning tickets for Pearl Harbour!