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.