Day 18 January 31, 2011 - At Sea on way to Nukualofa, Tonga

This is the first of three (or four) days at sea depending on whether you count our lost day.  We will actually spend 3 days but will lose one day as we cross the International Date Line.  We will be missing February 2.

Jan got Fred to go to bridge class with her this morning.  It was a summary of all the classes previously so it was a little different than usual.  We will start a new series tomorrow about How to Defense No-trump Contracts. 

Lunch on the pool deck – fish barbeque, then bridge at 2:00pm took up most of the afternoon.  We actually had pretty good cards and won one rubber.

Tonight was Dinner and a Show at Signatures.  Cocktails were at 6:20pm and dinner started at 6:30pm.  Canapés, appetizer, soup, and sherbet were fixed.  You could chose either a tenderloin steak or halibut.  The soup was delicious, a butternut squash-apple cider combination.  The three of us that selected halibut made the wrong choice.  It was totally over-cooked.  The papaya relish was good so the dish would have been great, if the fish had been cooked properly.   Jan had halibut earlier in the cruise at Signatures and it had been cooked correctly…guess serving that many people at the same time they took some short cuts.  Martha’s steak was done excellently and she enjoyed her meal.  Desert was a peanut-butter crust with chocolate mousse which was good.

The show was The Rat Pack, three celebrity impersonators playing Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and Sammy Davis Jr.  They were very entertaining and a lot of fun.

Day 18 January 31, 2011 – At Sea on the way to Nukualofa, Tonga

This is the first of three (or four) days at sea depending on whether you count our lost day.  We will actually spend 3 days but will lose one day as we cross the International Date Line.  We will be missing February 2.

Jan got Fred to go to bridge class with her this morning.  It was a summary of all the classes previously so it was a little different than usual.  We will start a new series tomorrow about How to Defense No-trump Contracts. 

Lunch on the pool deck – fish barbeque, then bridge at 2:00pm took up most of the afternoon.  We actually had pretty good cards and won one rubber.

Tonight was Dinner and a Show at Signatures.  Cocktails were at 6:20pm and dinner started at 6:30pm.  Canapés, appetizer, soup, and sherbet were fixed.  You could chose either a tenderloin steak or halibut.  The soup was delicious, a butternut squash-apple cider combination.  The three of us that selected halibut made the wrong choice.  It was totally over-cooked.  The papaya relish was good so the dish would have been great, if the fish had been cooked properly.   Jan had halibut earlier in the cruise at Signatures and it had been cooked correctly…guess serving that many people at the same time they took some short cuts.  Martha’s steak was done excellently and she enjoyed her meal.  Desert was a peanut-butter crust with chocolate mousse which was good.

The show was The Rat Pack, three celebrity impersonators playing Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and Sammy Davis Jr.  They were very entertaining and a lot of fun.

Day 16 – Saturday, January 29, 2011 Papeete, French Polynesia

We moved from Moorea to Papeete last evening.   Our dolphin watching was not very successful…we only saw ONE dolphin.  Dr. Poole was in New Zealand and one of his son’s was our guide.  He was worried about the single dolphin as all of the crew said they had never, ever seen just a single dolphin.  He was going to let his Dad know and go back to see if it was still there by itself.  He thought perhaps something was wrong with it as it was a young one without any distinctive markings.  They identify the individual dolphins by their dorsal fins and this one had a completely unmark fin.  He said that meant it had not encountered it’s first shark bite yet.  Once they receive their first bite, they never get another one – or if they do, they don’t survive it.  In all their research, they have found that once the dolphin fin is marked by a shark attack, it never changes.  We did sea two turtles and flying fish on our trip back to the ship.

Captain Scala sailed the ship as far into Opunoho Bay as possible then did a graceful turn to exit the bay and sail to Papeete.  The Paul Gauguin sailed into Cook’s Bay as we were docking and was docked next to us in Papeete.  She looks as good. 

Morning in Papeete – we had a couple of things we needed to get and Papeete seemed like the best place.  Fred’s watch had stopped working just after we left Hawaii so we need to find a watch repair shop to replace the battery.  And, he wanted a new Polynesian style shirt.  After looking through the market, we found a much better quality at a shop just across the street…and he bought two shirts – both approved by Jan.   The lady at the shop told us where to go to find a reputable watch shop and we found it easily with her directions.  Battery was replaced quickly and now Fred knows what time it is!

We walked back to the ship for a quick bite of lunch and a bit of time for Fred to put his feet up.  We booked a tour with one of the agencies on the dock for noon and it turned into a very nice afternoon.  The other couple with us was the couple who entertain nightly in the Voyager Lounge.  They are from Poland and it was their first trip to French Polynesia so they were very cute and excited about everything.

We did a circle around the island stopping at several points, i.e. Point Venus Lighthouse, Blow Hole, Paul Gaugin’s Museum, the Marae de Arahurahu.  It took about 4 hours to make the trip around the Island.  Luckily it was Saturday, because if it had been a weekday our drive said it would have taken us most of the day because of the traffic.

A local dance troupe, Toakura, came on board for a pre-dinner show.  They had lots of energy, were beautiful young people, and it was a fun show.

We had made plans to meet another couple who was on the Discovery Cruise with us, Ken and Shirley, along with Tom and Martha for dinner.  Our first task at the table was to toast Beth and Crystal!

Day 15 - Moorea, French Polynesia

We are docked just inside the reef at Moorea. This morning we are taking care of some business via the internet since it is pretty fast this morning. Our excursion, Dolphin Watching, is not until early afternoon so it seemed like a good day to get some things done before we leave the ship.

We will be leaving Moorea at 6:00pm and moving to Papeete where we will dock overnight. They are having Dancing Under the Stars tonight on the pool deck after dinner.

Weather is hot and beautiful today, blue skies with light winds coming across the reef.

Days 13-15 - At Sea on way to Moorea, French Polynesia

Weather has continued very nice as we continue our sail towards Moorea.  We have settled into our sea day routine.  Light breakfast, Jan goes to bridge class, Fred goes to lectures.  Back to the pool deck for lunch, social bridge at 2:00pm.  Nap until cocktail time.

Food continues to be very good.  Deck lunches have been pasta & pizza, make your own sandwich, and grills.  We went to Prime 7 on Thursday night and enjoyed surf and turf.  Entertainment has been ok.  We enjoyed the singers and dancers in one of their shows and Stephan Kane in his second show. 

Day 12 - At Sea on way to Moorea, French Polynesia

We slept late this morning after our late night.  Breakfast was Quevos Rancheros for both of us.  Bridge lessons for Jan and a lecture by Terry Waite consumed the morning.

Pool deck lunch was curries, i.e. chicken, lamb, fish.  The wind has died down but we have intermittent clouds with showers that the Captain is dodging.  It is getting warmer but still not very hot.

Day 11 - At Sea on way to Moorea, French Polynesia

Today is the first of five sea days in a row.  We have a slight swell but the ship is not moving too much and you just have to be careful walking around.  Jan went back to bridge class.   Fred is camped out in the suite because they have arranged for both football games to be broadcast.  We did take time out to have lunch on deck.

Jan got a haircut and read as Fred watched football.   He says neither game was that good!

We had dinner at Compass Rose where we met a new couple from London, England.  Sylvester had saved our favorite table for us again so were in a nice spot for conversation.  We had Veal Loin and Steak at our table and everyone was pleased with their meal.  We didn’t finish until 9:30pm as we were enjoying talking with this couple.

The show was Stephen Kane, a pianist, whom we enjoyed.  This was the latest we have stayed up so far.

Day 10 - Lahaina, Maui

Today we are anchored off the coast at Lahaina, Maui.  Lahaina is a old whaling port that has been restored and is very much a tourist town.  We had tickets for the second Whale Watching trip starting at 11:00am so we had a leisurely morning.

Our Whale watching tour was on one of the Triology catamarans so familiar in Hawaii.  We just walked from the tender landing around the corner and boarded.  We had already seen whales around the ship in the morning and one very close to the tender as we rode into the dock so we were hopeful for a good trip.

We stayed in the immediate vicinity of the ship between Maui and Lanai.  Early in the trip we saw a group of humpback whales that consisted of a large female with café and a male escort.  However, there was another boat there that kept getting between the whales and our boat.   One interesting thing about this group was that there were several Bottlenose Dolphins with them, including a baby dolphin.  After a little while, one of the passengers spotted another blow from a whale a little way off and the boat turned that way.

It was getting late in the trip (only 1.5 hours) when we really had a great sighting.  Again, it was a female, a calf and a male escort.  The female was huge; the crew estimated she was at least 50 feet long!  Boats are not allowed to approach closer than 150 feet but if the whales come towards you, you can stay.  And this group did just that.  They came right at the back of the boat where we had a great viewing of all three.  The female came right next to the boat right underneath were Fred was standing.  So we finished up our whale watching trip with a great viewing.

We stayed on shore and walked around Lahaina.   For some reason, Jan didn’t get the lens cap for the new camera (or she lost it), and we wanted to find one.   This time the Google Maps worked and located a camera store one block off on the main street.  We had a nice lunch at Lahaina Prime Rib and Fish Restaurant.

In the park right at the waterfront where the tenders were coming and going, there was a huge Banyan Tree that covered more than 2 acres.  Banyan trees put down new roots from their branches so what looked like a grove of trees were actually the one tree.  It shaded the entire park where a local art/crafts show was displayed.

Day 9 - Honolulu, Hawaii

This morning we went with Tom and Martha to the Hyatt Waikiki Beach and picked up a rental car for a drive around the Island of Oahu.   It took us a little time to get out of the Waikiki area because we relied too much on the Google Maps on Jan’s iPhone!

We drove counter-clock wise around the Island starting on the eastern side.   Traffic was not bad at all so we had a nice leisurely drive.  When we got over to the North Shore, the beaches were closed because of the high waves.  Only the very best surfers were being allowed to go in and not too many of those.  Lunch was at Jamison’s on the Beach where everyone enjoyed a variety of seafood.

We continued the drive around the Island and eventually back to Honolulu.  Tom dropped Fred and Jan off at the ship and they continued on the Hyatt to return the car.  It took them 1.5 hours to go the 5 miles and back because of the traffic!

We sailed out of the Harbor at about 11:00pm.  The lights of Honolulu were very beautiful as we left…Jan got up and went out on the balcony for a look.

Day 8 - Honolulu, Hawaii

The Sail into the Honolulu Harbor was beautiful this morning.  We docked at the Aloha Tour in downtown Honolulu.  This morning our tour was “Tale of Two Palaces”.  We had a small tour bus with only 22 people on it.  Our first stop was the Pali Lookout – it was extremely windy and the short walk to the lookout was not easy as the wind was blowing right at us.  But the view was beautiful overlooking the eastern side of Oahu.

The next stop was Queen Emma’s Summer Palace – a small wooden home where Queen Emma, King Kamehameha IV and their son got away from Honolulu during the summer.  She spent her last years there after losing both her son and her husband in a very short time frame.   It has been restored and had a lot of period pieces from the Hawaiian monarchy.

The Iolani Palace is in downtown Honolulu and was built in the late 1880’s.  It was used as a state office building until the 1950’s when it was reclaimed and the restoration process started.  They are still looking for a lot of the contents that were sold off by the government who deposed the Queen of Hawaii and imprisoned her in the palace for 8 months.  It is a beautiful building and houses a lot of the recovered objects such as jewelry, crowns, and medals.  

We were back to the ship in early afternoon and grabbed a quick bite on the pool deck.  After meeting Tom and Martha for a drink, we left the ship and when next door to the Aloha Tower Marketplace for dinner.  The thing that surprised all of us was the size of the portions – they were huge.  We were used to the smaller portions as served on the ship so the regular size portions of a restaurant seemed really big.  We all agreed we liked the smaller portions better!  

The ship was pretty quite this evening as the World Cruisers were gone to a special dinner at the Iolani Palace.  We had noticed they were putting up tables, chairs and a band was setting up on the grounds of the Palace when we were there.  Sleeping will be easy tonight as we are docked overnight in Honolulu.

Day 7 - Hilo, Hawaii

Sailing into Hilo this morning we saw our first whales right off of our balcony.  We arrived in Hilo right on time and were docked by about 9:00am.  We went to Constellation Theatre to exchange our tickets for bus assignments and that didn’t take very long.  However, there was some delay in getting the buses ready so we didn’t leave quite on time. 

We had selected the visit to the Imiloa Astronomy Center on the campus of the University of Hawaii.  Our group wasn’t very large so the bus was not crowded and the short 15 minute ridge was comfortable.   On arrival we were met by a volunteer at the center who would be our guide.  He informed us that we had reservations for the 2:00pm show and so we would take a short walk through the gardens.   The gardens are really just the landscaping around the parking lot but it was interesting as he focused on telling which plants had come by www – wind, wave or wings – and which were “canoe” plants, i.e. brought by man.  The garden tour took 40 minutes and most of us where a bit unhappy that much time was spent on the garden and not inside the center.  When we did go inside, we only had 15 minutes before we had to line up for the show…not near enough time to visit any of the exhibits which looked very interesting.

The show was “Amazing Light” which talked about the three (3) major observatories on the Mauna Kea, i.e. Keck, Canada-France-Hawaii and Suburu (Japan), and what projects they were working on right now.  That was quite interesting and it was in 3-D which gave the sense of being inside the telescope buildings and of flying through space to see the celestial bodies being investigated.  Since two of the three had been clients of FundWare at one time, Fred and I had actually been able to visit the CFW telescope on one of our previous visits to Hawaii.

We sailed about 5:00pm on our way to Honolulu.  The Captain had scheduled the sailing earlier than planned because he wanted to take us the long way around the Island in hopes we could see some of the lava flows.  Unfortunately, when we got to the area around 9:00pm the clouds had lowered so much that even with strong binoculars, the bridge couldn’t see anything.

Day 6 - At Sea on way to Hilo, Hawaii

The weather continues to be very nice, not hot at all and seas continue with a swell from the northwest but not too bad.  Bridge class and lectures, including one about “Pearl Harbor Revisited – What did they know and when did they know it” took up the morning.  Lunch was American BBQ on the deck with hamburgers, hot dogs, and several kinds of fish, and ribs.  

We spent the afternoon relaxing and reading.   We tried the Horizon Lounge for pre-dinner drinks and enjoyed the band.  It is harder for Fred to join conversations there as the band is louder than the pianist up in the Observation Lounge.  By now we have established that we like the table in the front port corner of Compass Rose and Sylvester almost always has saved it or the one right next to it.  It is much quieter there and Fred can sit with his back to the window and lessen the noise interference.  Ronald is the waiter for the area and Laura the wine steward and we have been getting excellent service!

Day 5 -At Sea on the way to Hilo Hawaii.

Another nice day at sea with lots of activities in which you could participate.  Jan did the Intermediate bridge lesson again and Fred enjoyed lectures on Captain Cook and Old Hawaii.  Tonight we went to Signatures where we shared a table with a couple from Chicago who is doing the entire World Cruise and a couple from San Francisco who are just going to Auckland.  Fred had the Lamb which was prepared just like he wanted it medium rare.  Jan had the Halibut which was delicious.  The couple from Chicago did not have quite as much luck with their food.  One of the steaks which was ordered as medium was medium well and the lamb which was ordered medium rare was closer to medium.  They were reluctant to send it back but when the Maitre’de asked about our food, they said “do you really want to know?” and of course he wanted to know.   I always feel that if you don’t tell someone that it was incorrectly prepared then they won’t know they need to improve.  Desert was very good and we enjoyed meeting some new people.

The Regent Singers and Dancers were doing one of their shows but we decided to pass since we will have more chances to see them.

Day 4, At Sea on way to Hilo, Hawaii - January 16, 2011

Up early this morning as our clocks were turned back one hour last night.  Not so foggy today but we still have high clouds and it is not very warm.   We both had a light breakfast at the coffee connection.  Jan off the bridge class again and Fred to enjoy the ship and then to join guys in the Voyager Lounge for the Chicago/Seattle playoff game.

Tom and Martha are joining us in our suite to watch the Patriots/Jets game.  We are going to order lunch in and enjoy the afternoon cheering for the Patriots as Tom and Martha are from Boston.

After a lazy afternoon, we had dinner at Compass Rose.  All of us selected the Roasted Duck which was delicious.  Ronald was our waiter and service was excellent.  We found a table back in the corner at the front of the restaurant where Fred can hear better without all the noise coming from behind him.  Entertainment was a couple.  He played the piano and she sang.  They did a lot of 60’s tunes but it was fun and we enjoyed it.

Day 3 - At Sea on Way to Hilo, Hawaii - January 15, 2011

Smooth sailing all night and we slept until almost 8:00am.   Fred brought Jan tea and a croissant for breakfast as her tummy wasn’t feeling all that well.  Tea was just the right thing and everyone was up around feeling good for the day.

After breakfast, Jan went to Intermediate Bridge class while Fred explored the ship.  Also went to a lecture by a photographer, Peter Simon, that was not very interesting.  At 11:00am Fred joined for a lecture by Dr. Ronnie Sampson and Cooks Endeavor – his early life and naval career.  That one was interesting.  He will be speaking about Captain Cook over the next several sea days.

Today was Fish Al Fresco Lunch on the deck.  It was a little windy and cook but Tom and Martha had found a table back out of the wind and we joined them for a light lunch.  Tonight is the Captain’s Welcome Party so we ate a light lunch.

The ship arranged for reception of ESPN/FOX for the two playoff games so most of the afternoon was spent resting and watching the football games.

The staff for this segment of the cruise are:

Captain Pier Paolo Scala

General Manager – Michael Coghlan

Staff Captain – Hjalmar Lonn

Cruise Director – Jamie Logan

Assistant Cruise Director – Elda Pauluzzi

Food & Beverage Manager – Florian Kibgilka

Executive Chef – Fabien Alujas

Restaurant Manager – Anatoli Makaev

Captain Pier Paolo Scala will be leaving in Sydney.

Most of the staff is new to us except Florian, Elda and Anatoli.  We did go to the Captain’s Welcome just to see the staff.  Then we went up to the Observation Lounge since the restaurants get very busy when the special events let out.   We were joined by Tom and Martha.   Everyone look good in their “dress up” clothes.  Both Tom and Fred decided on dark suits rather than tuxedos.   The crowd was mixed with I think tuxs being in the minority.

We decided to go to La Veranda for a more relaxed dinner and were very please with our meals.  It was almost empty as most chose the Compass Rose where they serve Beef Wellington and Lobster.  We have found that most of the time the lobster in La Veranda is better and tonight was no exception.  Tom had the lobster, Martha the Beef Tornados, Fred had the lamb chops and Jan had the Osso Buco.  Everyone said their meal was excellent as was the wine and the service.  We all skipped desert.

I know some people don’t like La Veranda for dinner.  It is true that the appetizers and desert are from the buffet but everything else is served table side.  If the quality of the food continues as good as it was last night, we will spend many evenings at La Veranda

Day 2 - January 14, 2011 San Francisco

Today the ship is still in San Francisco with a lot of passengers boarding today.  We actually slept in until 7:30am and then spent some time finishing the rearrangement of the closet and drawers.  Everything is now in its place.  We asked Rajib for an additional set of drawers since there was plenty of room for them in the closet and that gave us plenty of room for everything we brought.  The desk area is much bigger than in the regular suites so it doesn’t look crowded at all.

Up to breakfast at La Veranda this morning and Fred started off his cruise with his typical full breakfast, smoked salmon, eggs, bacon, fruit, coffee.  Jan, trying to start off the right way, had cereal and strawberries.  

Met up with Tom and Martha, our friends from Boston, and had lunch.   We saw Abgail in the Veranda.  We had sailed with her in 2006 on the Mariner while on the Grand Asia Pacific trip.  She took very special care of Jan’s Mom when she joined us in Sydney.

Ship drill was at 3:15pm.  This is the first time that we have been involved in a safety drill where we didn’t have to put on our life jackets…in fact they didn’t want us to even bring them with us to the muster stations.  We did have to go out on deck.  The sun came out but it is still cool.

Sail away started just a bit late as we had a couple of late arriving passengers they waited for.   The sun was shining and it was a nice sail out of San Francisco under the Golden Gate Bridge.  We had to put jackets on to enjoy sail away on the top deck as the wind caused by the ship moving was cold!   Just out of the Golden Gate we went back into heavy clouds and intermittent fog.  The Captain says it will stay that way all night and probably the next day as well.  Sea is pretty smooth with only 5-8 foot swells.

We joined Tom and Martha for dinner in the Compass Rose.  Service was very good.  Everyone’s food was good except Jan’s.  She ordered from the Canyon Ranch Spa Menu…the chicken was uneatable  it was so tough.  However, the chocolate desert was great!  Evening entertainment was a movie so we went back to the cabin for more rest.

Departure Day - January 13, 2011

Departure day – Jyl picked us up at 9:30am and we were at the airport by 10:15am.  Boarded the plane right on time with push back at 12:12pm.  However….just as the plane was pushed back, the pilot came on and told us that we now had a wheels up time of 1:40pm due to fog in San Francisco.  Luckily, we went back to the same gate and they opened the door and allowed anyone to get off if they wanted to.  Since we had a nice Economy Plus row with no one in the middle seat, we just stayed put and read.

We did leave at 1:40pm and landed in San Francisco about 3:20pm.  We were met by the Regent Representative and our bags were among the first off.  We always feel better when all the bags come off of the plane.  He helped us with our baggage (4 bags and 2 carry ons) and the limo picked us up and took us directly to the port.

Boarding was super easy and we were check in and in our suite by 4:15pm.  The shipped bags were already in our suite so no missing luggage.  Ngaire, Linda and Susan stopped by as they were all on the ship for “top producers” meetings with Regent.  They even got to stay overnight on the ship.   Ngaire left us with a bag with her favorite cereal and salad dressing so she didn’t have to try and get it into Australia when they board in Brisbane.

We met our butler, Rajib, who showed us what we needed to know about our suite.  We asked him to go ahead and unpack for us since we were leaving the ship for dinner.  We left about 5:30pm to walk down and find a cab.  Regent representatives at the door helped us find one.  It was cool and very cloudy in San Francisco but it wasn’t raining at that time.

We met Susan and Andrew at the Millennium Restaurant.  It was excellent.  It is a vegetarian restaurant but the food was very upscale and delicious.  We all and the Harvest Festival Dinner which was a fixed menu.   I especially like the appetizers but I could not tell you what all they had in them.  The food was good and the service excellent.  We didn’t feel the least bit disappointed by having a vegetarian dinner.   It was Susan’s birthday so we had a nice evening catching up with her and talking with Andrew about his senior highschool year and his plans for college.

We were back on the ship by about 8:45pm in time for the Grand Gala Entertainment.  It started with Norm Crosby, who was very funny and we enjoyed him.  Then Joel Gray came on.  Joel Gray has been a great entertainer but I thought it sad to see him trying so hard when it was obvious he is getting too old to really put on a show.  We left before he finished.

Our suite is a penthouse on the Voyager.  While the square footage is about the same as the deluxe suite it is arranged quite differently and feels more spacious.  We had to do some re-arranging of our clothes after the butler unpacked for us.  We decided to do just the minimum that evening and do the rest the next morning.

Getting Ready to Go!

Christmas and New Year's are past so time to focus on our big trip.   Bags will be picked up on Monday so packing for the shipped luggage is finished.

Most other packing is finished but still need to find a hangup bag and as always there are a last few minute items to shop for and lose ends to tie up.

All in all I think we are ready to go!

This is mainly a test post to setup the blog.