We are approaching Pitcairn Island. Sega Rose is already anchored… it seems we will be following her around the world. She is the old Vista Fjord and will soon be retired; scrapped? I hope she will be used somewhere as the old liner-type ships are so beautiful. The day is beautiful with a clear blue sky and almost calm seas. We don’t go ashore here (damn), but I will add a pin to my map anyway. We will be at anchor for several hours and the locals will come onboard to sell handcrafts and a local speaker will do a presentation on the island.
Yesterday was a very laid back day and I decided to go to the dining room for lunch - wrong decision! The buffet was seafood and had crab legs and lobster claws… Oh well, we have 88 days left and I imagine we will have a chance again. Last night we took John and Mary Maxtone Graham to the Sterling Steakhouse for dinner and had a wonderful dinner and a great time. He is such a character… He wore a beautiful Chinese jacket as his jacket for the tux and uses a small magnifying glass on a gold chain instead of reading glasses.
We just had to take a quick break from writing this as they rang the chimes and announced that the locals were approaching the ship in their long boats on the starboard side… earlier they had said they would approach from Port side so we were ready on the balcony. By the time we made it to an outside deck, all the railings were packed. Jim got a pretty good shot from deck 9, but I didn’t get anything good from deck 5. The boats we saw were not the “native-type” long boats we had been expecting, so it’s not a big disappointment.
Some additional tidbits: we won trivia again yesterday with a team of 5. We have now traveled 5900 miles! We are doing remarkably well in the regular size balcony cabin. The last few nights it has been nice enough for Jim to sit out on the balcony to read after I want to go to bed… even when he comes in, he uses his book light and I’ve been able to sleep!
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Easter Island
Yesterday afternoon we did a tour of Easter Island. The tender ride was long, not because of the distance, but tenders for our ship and Sega Rose had to alternate and only one tender could approach the pier to load and unload so there was a waiting line of several tenders.
We had a tour called Easy Easter Island in a 16-person van. We visited 3 sites and the artisan market. It was very good; our guide would do a short talk about the site and then we had time to take photographs. You could get within about 10 feet of the statues, but not actually touch them. They stand about 17 feet tall - some restored to better condition than others. One site all the statues were toppled and no restoration had taken place. I should have studied a bit about Easter Island; I thought the statues faced out to sea to ward off invaders. They don’t - they face inland and guard over burial grounds.
It is a beautiful island, I could easily spend a couple months there - very peaceful and laid-back. It was a beautiful hot sunny day and we came back sunburned and very dusty! I hit the shower within 5 minutes of coming to the cabin.
I'll come back and add photos when I have a better connection.
We had a tour called Easy Easter Island in a 16-person van. We visited 3 sites and the artisan market. It was very good; our guide would do a short talk about the site and then we had time to take photographs. You could get within about 10 feet of the statues, but not actually touch them. They stand about 17 feet tall - some restored to better condition than others. One site all the statues were toppled and no restoration had taken place. I should have studied a bit about Easter Island; I thought the statues faced out to sea to ward off invaders. They don’t - they face inland and guard over burial grounds.
It is a beautiful island, I could easily spend a couple months there - very peaceful and laid-back. It was a beautiful hot sunny day and we came back sunburned and very dusty! I hit the shower within 5 minutes of coming to the cabin.
I'll come back and add photos when I have a better connection.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
The Southern Cross
Last night we went to deck 11, the topmost observation deck for stargazing with the onboard astronomer. They turned out the ship lights so we were able to see hundreds of stars… but the clouds rolled in very soon. This morning we went out on our balcony at about 6:30 and the Southern Cross was right there and even upright.
As we approached Easter Island as the sun was coming up, we kept scanning the shoreline for the statues. Finally we could see some; a group of 4 and two others. It was still too dark for any photos and now that we have dropped anchor we are on the wrong side of the ship. Sega Rose is also anchored and will start tendering before we do. Many people are unhappy as there are supposed to be only a few taxi’s. We have a ship excursion this afternoon so at least we are sure to visit some of the statues.
As we approached Easter Island as the sun was coming up, we kept scanning the shoreline for the statues. Finally we could see some; a group of 4 and two others. It was still too dark for any photos and now that we have dropped anchor we are on the wrong side of the ship. Sega Rose is also anchored and will start tendering before we do. Many people are unhappy as there are supposed to be only a few taxi’s. We have a ship excursion this afternoon so at least we are sure to visit some of the statues.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
At Sea
Satellite reception is very spotty. I’ll post as I can hit it.
This morning when we woke up at 7:30 (late for us) the sunrise was just beginning and the sea was like glass. We are still on East coast time; after Easter Island we will do 5 time changes in 7 days. That should mix everyone up pretty good… is it called ship-lag instead of jet-lag?? The water is truly like glass - I can’t believe we are in the middle of the Pacific. I hope it isn’t the calm before the storm.
Not too much to report today except with the addition of 3 more people we won the trivia contest yesterday afternoon. People seemed a little put out that the smokers won. Actually they seem put out that we exist. There are only a couple designated smoking areas on the ship; one in a sheltered area by the pool and another up in the Royal lounge (where trivia is held). We haven’t had any problems, but several of our friends are telling of people making extremely rude statements even when they are sitting in the smoking areas.
Oh, I found out that the lady that lives onboard is the Godmother. Wouldn’t that be the life?… she gets it all free!! I wonder how I can become a Godmother? One of the cruise lines (I think it was RCCL) did make a travel agent a Godmother for one of their recent ships. They ran a contest; the agent that won was heavily involved in a number of charities. I remember reading her story - it was a good choice.
This is a good place to say thank you to Michelle. She’s been working her tail off with a couple clients I had to pass to her when I left.
This morning when we woke up at 7:30 (late for us) the sunrise was just beginning and the sea was like glass. We are still on East coast time; after Easter Island we will do 5 time changes in 7 days. That should mix everyone up pretty good… is it called ship-lag instead of jet-lag?? The water is truly like glass - I can’t believe we are in the middle of the Pacific. I hope it isn’t the calm before the storm.
Not too much to report today except with the addition of 3 more people we won the trivia contest yesterday afternoon. People seemed a little put out that the smokers won. Actually they seem put out that we exist. There are only a couple designated smoking areas on the ship; one in a sheltered area by the pool and another up in the Royal lounge (where trivia is held). We haven’t had any problems, but several of our friends are telling of people making extremely rude statements even when they are sitting in the smoking areas.
Oh, I found out that the lady that lives onboard is the Godmother. Wouldn’t that be the life?… she gets it all free!! I wonder how I can become a Godmother? One of the cruise lines (I think it was RCCL) did make a travel agent a Godmother for one of their recent ships. They ran a contest; the agent that won was heavily involved in a number of charities. I remember reading her story - it was a good choice.
This is a good place to say thank you to Michelle. She’s been working her tail off with a couple clients I had to pass to her when I left.
Monday, February 2, 2009
At Sea
Satellite reception is limited so I’ll post as I can hit it. The TV addicts are beginning to Jones!
We have now traveled 4020 miles; Easter Island is 760 miles away. This is day 14 of the cruise and would be the day on many of our past cruises when we would have to repack to disembark… this time we have 93 days to go! We have had wonderful weather and calm seas except for the first two days. You wouldn’t even know that we are far out in the Pacific; the seas are as calm as the Caribbean.
We went to the special Sunday Brunch when it opened at 10:30. It is a really impressive spread; everything from prime rib to seafood… including caviar (well, it was probably salmon eggs, but it served the purpose) It was impossible to even taste everything that looked good. Thank heavens we will have 93 more days to try more of the food. So far I’m rating the food above that that I’ve had on either Celebrity or Holland America in the last couple years.
Last night for the Superbowl Princess paid for a special downstream of the game so the satellite disruption didn’t bother it. They decorated the Cabaret Lounge with balloons of appropriate colors and provided a munchies buffet of chips guacamole, salsa, pizza, etc. The room was filled. That is our only large showroom on this small ship. It isn’t like the theatres on the large ships with the tiered seating; it is much more like a night club with chairs and tables; very nice, but often difficult to see the stage area.
They make use of every possible space on the ship for multiple purposes. Computer classes are taught in the specialty restaurants and they will schedule smaller (quiet-type) events in both sides of the Royal lounge (forward top deck) at the same time.
We have now traveled 4020 miles; Easter Island is 760 miles away. This is day 14 of the cruise and would be the day on many of our past cruises when we would have to repack to disembark… this time we have 93 days to go! We have had wonderful weather and calm seas except for the first two days. You wouldn’t even know that we are far out in the Pacific; the seas are as calm as the Caribbean.
We went to the special Sunday Brunch when it opened at 10:30. It is a really impressive spread; everything from prime rib to seafood… including caviar (well, it was probably salmon eggs, but it served the purpose) It was impossible to even taste everything that looked good. Thank heavens we will have 93 more days to try more of the food. So far I’m rating the food above that that I’ve had on either Celebrity or Holland America in the last couple years.
Last night for the Superbowl Princess paid for a special downstream of the game so the satellite disruption didn’t bother it. They decorated the Cabaret Lounge with balloons of appropriate colors and provided a munchies buffet of chips guacamole, salsa, pizza, etc. The room was filled. That is our only large showroom on this small ship. It isn’t like the theatres on the large ships with the tiered seating; it is much more like a night club with chairs and tables; very nice, but often difficult to see the stage area.
They make use of every possible space on the ship for multiple purposes. Computer classes are taught in the specialty restaurants and they will schedule smaller (quiet-type) events in both sides of the Royal lounge (forward top deck) at the same time.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
NOTE: WE WILL HAVE VERY SPOTTY INTERNET CONNECTION FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS
Yesterday, a sea day, I attended a talk by the Princess Master Chef, Commendatore Alfredo Marzi. Commendatore is an honorary title in Italy similar to Sir or Lord in England. He is onboard for about half our cruise training the staff. He is quite a character. He will be doing 10 cooking demo classes and I’m planning to attend if I have time.
At noon we had a special luncheon for the CruiseCritic members. I had set it up several days ago and it was to be just a section of the main dining room, but on Friday the Maitre d’ called me to meet with him again and said the Master chef wanted to move it to Sabatini’s and he was going to prepare a special menu for us. Judy (another CC member) and I did all the invitations and all 28 members attended. It was the best meal we have had; they even included wine. For desert we had a wonderful cake (Italian Wedding cake?) with CruiseCritic World Cruise 2009 on it with ice cream and strawberry sauce for desert. At the end of the meal the placed the plate of little candies (there is a name for these, but it’s not coming to me right now) on the table… they were to die for but we were already too full to enjoy them. The First Purser for Food and Beverage, Melania Parnisari, was seated next to me and I commented that I wished I had a doggy bag to take all the leftover candies back to my cabin. Within 10 minutes of returning to our cabin there was a knock on the door “Room Service”; when I answered it was a plate of the goodies. They are so rich it will take us a couple days to eat them all.
We are attending far more onboard activities than any of our past cruises and finding them to be really enjoyable. We gained another Trivia Player so yesterday we became an official team for the first time.
I’ve also put up a picture of some of the dolphins we saw yesterday- there were hundreds in this pod racing along side the ship.
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