Tonight, we had dinner with the expedition photographer. He stated again that we were in an area that almost no one had seen on a cruise ship, including him. We are going where cruise ships have seldom been. Even the captain has never been here. We have two submarines on board, and they will explore the depths of the oceans when we stop at the islands, for the first time ever. In the past, they discovered a sunken warship that had never been recorded, what lies in these new waters?
Our stop at the Cook Islands was totally beyond anything you can imagine. The beautiful water hues, the pure white sandy beaches were unimaginable. We did a 6-hour lagoon tour, our first stop was snorkeling, then we went to Honeymoon Island, where we swam and walked on beaches that are hardly ever visited and were littered with hermit crabs, the final stop was on One Foot Island where we had lunch, swam and snorkeled. Getting to the Island was challenging, the Zodiacs had to surf the waves into a channel that was dredged by American troops in the World War 2 era. Our boat driver and tour guide “Uncle Bob”, said we got the channel and a lot of war babies from the American military. On the way out of the lagoon, we had to try to not get soaked by the huge waves that were coming towards us. Our driver told us to duck and hold on as a big wave was about to break over the top of us. It didn’t and we stayed dry. A fantastic day for sure. Uncle Bob said they get about 2 cruise ships (all small) a month visiting the Island and that really helps their economy. On the way back, our guide showed the 2 Islands that will be used in 2026 for Survivor.
At the Captains reception, croissant wrapped hot dogs were served as appetizers right along with caviar. My children will tell you, that was their favorite dinner, the hotdogs, not the caviar.
It’s April 12th now and when we wake up tomorrow it will be April 14th. There is no April 13th on this cruise because of the International Date Line. One lady on board who was born on April 13th will not have a birthday this year. Wait, have we found the real “time machine”?
So, I told you that in Tahiti we pretty much unloaded all the passengers except 70 of us and loaded on a whole new bunch of cruisers, well, the vibe has totally changed. People do not acknowledge each other in the halls, In the seminars, everyone is 2,2,2, and there is not a community feeling on board. I suspect that most guests do not have a passport that says “United States of America” on the cover. But among other changes, the sushi bar is packed each night, not normal, Kim gets little egg salad sandwiches in the afternoons when she is going on an excursion the next day, they are all gone when she gets there, We asked several crew and expedition leaders if they noticed a difference and the roaring answer was “yes this is weird”.
So, last year I stated that one can order Caviar anytime you want on Seabourn, and someone challenged that statement, well you can, anytime, anywhere. I have had a graving for Ceviche ever since the Easter Island restaurant experience, so I asked if I could arrange for Ceviche for lunch tomorrow. They said they would consult the chef and came back to me with this answer. “You can have ceviche tomorrow, but the chef said if you wait one day, he will go to the fish market tomorrow on Samoa and get fresh fish from the market for me”. That’s what cruising at this level is all about.
Sea mammals have been pretty nonexistent this trip so far, I hope that will change. But we did see that very elusive beak whale, that explores would kill to see, I guess that was our pearl for this trip.
Yes, the picture was a mirror, Kim missed it, Kip and Sheila got it right.
Tomorrow Kim is hiking to some mountain top, and I am sleeping in.
We have booked the first half of the world cruise for 2027, so, there will be season 4 of Sailwast.net. We also booked a Polar Bear Adventure in Churchill, Canada for October 2026, it’s just a week, but it is an amazing experience.
In memory of Steve McDowell and Tom Sutinem, rest in peace.
More from the other side on the international date line……..
Hi Kim and Steve,
I am doing binge reading to catch up!
What amazing pictures and stories which I am totally consuming and enjoying.
Reading about your trip is such a relief to our current state of geopolitics.
Hopefully, you are sparing yourselves from consuming the current news cycle.
Thank you so much for sharing your incredible adventures.
Thanks for commenting Susan. This is a fantastic adventure for sure. We check our USA Today feed on our phones, but for the most part we are staying as far from the turmoil of the current era as we can.
Jim had friends on Rarotonga on the Cook Islands. He had great tales of his visits there. He was even cook on their ship “Monovia”. I never made it there. Glad you enjoyed it.
Funny. I also “skipped” April 13th.
I think one of your children would never touch caviar. I think all of your children would eat hotdog roll-ups.