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 5^th 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…..