Dinner with a view
Our table last night
Sea Days
February 3, 2024
Tonga
Unlike our last two stops in Samoa which were mountainous and Jungle, Tonga is flat and agricultural. Reminded us both of Cozumel. Quite the change from one to the other, Kim went on a 3-hour tour that took closer to 4.5 hours, she enjoyed it. I watched the water and ships. Perfect day!
I’ll be back in 30 seconds:
Kim here 😊 My tour included a trip to the other side of the island to view blow holes. The pounding surf comes in and bursts through various sizes of holes in the coral, making some amazing spouts. There are also musical tones created and it was fun to hear – like a whistling, but a low tone. On our drive back, we stopped at a large mango tree on a city street and got out to see a few of their “flying foxes”, which are actually fruit bats. They are very large and have heads that look like foxes. I caught one unfolding his wings on video – very fun.
You’re probably getting tired of me boasting about the crew, but something happened today that even blew me away. Apparently, I regularly grab an empty chair and turn it so I can rest my arm on it. Today I sat down and one of the servers brought me an extra chair for my arm. You have got to be kidding, they don’t miss anything. Kim asked for some potato chips one evening, so now every evening they deliver a bowl of chips to our room. Is that service or what? They have never told us that they cannot do that.
February 4, 2024
Day one of three consecutive days at sea. We got up this morning and immediately noticed the humidity had dropped. It was a very pleasant 80 degrees with little or no humidity. The sun is getting up earlier and going down later each day too. Just another day in paradise. The days just seem to zoom by and today Kim said she is enjoying sea days. What more could I ask for?
Before dinner tonight, they had a cocktail hour for world cruisers only. They spared no expense. Champagne, caviar, hors d’oeuvres, ships officers and the works. They spoil us. For dinner tonight we (I) chose a Japanese menu. All was fantastic, but the Lobster tempura was over the top!
In a half an hour we are going to a comedy show, I so hope he is funny. We’ll see. Well, he was funny, but our Cruise Director stole the show by telling us that sometimes the guests are funnier than anyone. He said he overheard a guest telling her friend that they were going to the Helen Keller Steakhouse that night. For background, all the food served on board is under the direction of the famous chef THOMAS Keller. Not Helen. Then he told us he got into a fairly crowded elevator and a man accidently brushed his elbow into a woman’s breast. He apologized and said if the rest of your body is as soft as your breast, I know you will find it your heart to forgive me. To which she replied I’m not sure about that, but if the rest of your body is as hard as your elbow, I’m in Cabin 429! Now that’s funny. Good Night.
Rainy Sea Day
Star Ship Sojourn, February 2, 2024
Even rainy sea days are wonderful. We woke up to a blustery day, rain, wind and oh wait 82 degrees. It’s not like a rainy day we all picture.
We listened to Heidi, our astronaut, talk about her second trip to the space station, including how they pooped and peed. She told us that all waste including human wastes were turned into drinking water, and how they made their coffee out of it. I controlled my tongue, but I wanted to say “Oh, so when you say this coffee tastes like piss, you really know what you’re talking about?”
And then the General talked about West Point and its graduates. It was interesting also.
The afternoon turned dry and partly cloudy, so we enjoyed our usual day at the pool (in the shade). Every night there are 5 dinning venues, we chose the patio for tonight because of the menu. As soon as we sat down, the heavens opened up and we had another downpour. We were under cover so all was well.
I keep forgetting to tell you about the huge Starkest tuna processing plant that was across the bay from our dock in American Samoa and the gigantic fishing boats that were docked there. We eat home canned tuna, but next time you go to the market, check where starkest tuna is canned.
Tomorrow, Tonga. Will I post from there or not? Check in…..
Two Somoas
Samoa, The Country
February 1,2024
Every time I start my blog, I feel like Captain Kirk, Star Ship Sojourn, February 1, 2024.
Well, Samoa the country and Samoa the American Territory have a lot in common and a few differences. We spent the day in the country of Samoa. Another beautiful country filled with proud citizens. We had a splendid bus tour, the busses only hold 14 passengers, that ended at Robert Lewis Stevenson’s house. After a tour of the house, they gave us all a fresh coconut filled with milk. I had Coconut milk in the 70’s and didn’t like it, but I decided to give it another try. Guess what, I still don’t like it!
Samoa is a poor country as a whole, and there is only one American restaurant, take a guess, right, McDonalds. None of the locals go there because it’s too expensive. We were only the second Cruise ship to visit here this year, and they rely upon Cruise ships for most of their tourist income.
We had a great day even though it was 93 degrees, wow hot, right. In about an hour, we set sail for Tonga, a two-day sail away.
Okay, the shoe officially dropped today, even though we got word of the big change in our itinerary yesterday. It was finalized today when we got up to find a letter in our box from the President of Seabourn Cruises. We will end our Cruise on Singapore on May 2, 2024. They are flying us home from there. That means we miss out on the last 35 days of our Cruise. Seabourn will refund us for the time we miss, plus give us all kinds of perks as an apology for the change. All passengers and non-essential crew will be removed from the ship in Singapore, then the ship will beat feet around Africa in an effort to get to Athens by June 5th to pick up the new group of passengers and crew. It is really the best that they can do, so we are okay with their decision. Of course, you know me, I don’t like to fail at anything, so I’m already looking at the brochure for the 2026 World Cruise!
And now a message from our sponsor. Brick and Mortar Travel Agencies are almost extinct. But in our little town of Longview Washington, Great Escapes Travel still stands proud. Bonnie and Donna have been helping me and organizing trips for me, now for over 40 years. When something like this huge itinerary change happens, I just send them an email to make sure Seabourn has also informed them. They will spring into action and make sure we get the best available flights from Singapore to Portland. And constantly watch our backs as this unfolds. They saw to it that we had everything we need before we left home. Including for this trip, a 3 x 5 wall map of the world that I am tracking our journey on, and you will all get a picture of our trip in the end. They are cyber savvy, so even if you don’t live in Longview, give them a try. They never cost you money as the travel providers compensate them and as a matter of fact, they have saved me money several times. Just another level of free insurance for your travels.
Just to mess with Kim’s head, this morning I asked her if she took her Thursday vitamins. To which she quickly replied with that look on her face “No I took my Wednesday vitamins”. Well, it’s Thursday here, got ya.
We found out tonight that our cabin steward is from Puerto Cortes, Honduras. That is where the Worldwide Heart to Heart Orphanage is. I was very involved in building it and spent months there working as a volunteer. When we got married, I told Kim she needed to experience it. She became the first health care provider for the children and went at least once a year for several years to give the children exams and chart their growth and development. Who would have thunk that we would have run into him on this cruise? Small world. We will give him information so he can contact the orphanage when he goes home at the end of his contract. That’s how big things start to happen sometimes, you never know when you plant a seed what will happen.
More tomorrow, maybe…..
Land Ho
January 30, 2024
After 7 straight days at sea, today we spotted land, Land Ho. We spent the day at American Samoa, or as the locals say ”SAH MO WAH”. Kim was up and gone before I even got out of bed, but I have been taking advantage of these nothing mornings by sleeping later than I normally do. We thought we would have cell service and could check in, that quickly turned out to be a dud, maybe tomorrow in the country of Samoa, our first foreign port. Today’s high temperature was 87 degrees, a little too hot, not complaining. Tomorrow we will join our first excursion, an Island tour and a stop at the fish market and The Robert Louis Stevenson Museum. Should be fun. We don’t often sign on for shore excursions, preferring to strike out on our own.
Is tomorrow really tomorrow? Well, tonight we cross the international date line and when we get up it will be Thursday, February 1st. And right on cue, a lady asked “will we ever get it back”? Someone in the back said, probably when you fly home. I’m beginning to realize that not all our shipmates are seasoned travelers.
After all of the amazing food we have had, we were both excited to find out tonight’s dinner was Fried Chicken! Sometimes you just want to have a home cooked meal, it was great.
In the next couple of days, we will find out what’s going to happen in regards to the Red Sea Crossing, so, stay tuned.