Day 26 - January 31 - At Sea/Nuku’alofa, Tonga

We went to bed on Thursday, January 29 and woke up at 8 on Saturday, January 31 as we passed the International Date Line during the night.  It was 79 degrees under partly cloudy skies.  We had coffee in the cabin and went to breakfast at 9:10 and then to the aft deck.  Glenda read in the sun and I worked on the crossword puzzle and read until 10:45 when I went to the cabin to post the blog entry and backup some of my computer files.  I returned to the aft deck at 11:45.  It came a heavy rain at 12:15 for about 15 minutes.  Don came by our table and we chatted until 2 when we returned to the cabin.  We read until bingo time and today we had enough people to play since I bought an extra card.  We did not win.  The Captain announced that we would not be docking until 8pm instead of 7 due to a ship late leaving.  Before dinner we went to the Crow’s Nest and watched as we docked.  We visited with Don, Elizabeth & John, Allen & Sandra, Tom & Karen, Aart & Ellen, and Barbie.  After dinner, we returned and visited with Elizabeth & John, Don, Peter, Barbie, and Tom & Karen until 11:30.

Day 25 - January 29 - At Sea/Crossing the International Dateline

We woke up at 8:30 to 79 degrees with partly cloudy skies.  We went to breakfast at 9:30 and then to the aft deck.  It was sunny now so Glenda got her sun chair and we read until 2 when we went to the tour office to cancel our tour to Rome with the Papal Audience since the latest changes made it appear we would be standing with a mass of people for over an hour.  Glenda took a few items down to the self laundry to press them and then we read until bingo time.  We went to bingo at 4, but there were only 14 in attendance and we did not get to play.  Tonight was Flowered Shirts and Grass Skirt night.  Before dinner, we went to the Crow’s Nest and visited with Vicki, Don, Alan & Sandra, Aart & Ellen and Barbie.  We had a beautiful sunset directly in front of us.   After dinner, we went to see Rita Rudner’s show.  It started with 12 year old Molly Bergman playing the guitar and singing her original compositions.  We assume that she is Rudner’s daughter?  Rita Rudner was fantastically funny and will have a part 2 show Wednesday.  After the show, we went to the casino to make a contribution for about 20 minutes.  We went back to the cabin at 11:25 and found gifts of 2 leather passport covers.  The clocks were set forward 23 hours as we crossed the International Date Line.  We will have no Friday, January 30.

Day 24 - January 28 - Rarotonga, Cook Islands/ At Sea

Our wake up call was at 6:45 and it was 79 degrees and very cloudy.  Our breakfast came at 7:05 and we ate while getting ready for our tour.  At 7:30, the Captain announced that the swells made it unfavorable to safely operate the tenders, so he was cancelling this stop.  Glenda quickly made an appointment for a manicure/pedicure in the spa for this afternoon.  We went to the aft deck at 9 to read and at 10, the Captain announced that a tropical storm was approaching Nuie, our next port which is a tender port and it was expected to have 12 foot swells, so we would cancel that stop and proceed to Tonga and spend 2 nights and 2 days instead of 1 day there.  We had been to Rarotonga once in 2011 and not there 2 times and we had been to Nuie once in 2011 and now not there once.  We returned to the cabin at 12:30 to get the revised schedules and found a letter from the tour office that the audience with the Pope no longer offered reserved area or seating.  Glenda went to her SPA nail appointment at 2 and met me at bingo at 4.  We had 21 players and got to play.  I won $45 on the second game.  After dressing for dinner, we went to the Crow’s Nest and visited with Don, Alan & Sandra, Barbie, and Aart & Ellen.  After dinner, we returned and visited with Don, Peter, Barbie, Tom & Karen and Ann & Cathy until 10:50.

Day 23 - January 27 - At Sea

We woke up at 8 and it was 79 degrees and cloudy.  We had coffee in the cabin and went to breakfast at 9:15 and then to the aft deck to read and Glenda got her sun chair.  I went down to the front desk to turn in some additional forms for the Australian visas and then returned to the aft deck until 11:30 when I went to the cabin to post the blog for yesterday.  I returned to the aft deck at 12:30 and read until 2:15 when we went back to the cabin.  I went to the front desk to buy some New Zealand dollars that are used on Cook Islands as well as New Zealand.  We read until bingo time.   It started to rain at 3:40 and we went to bingo at 4, but we only had 17 people.  Before the formal dinner where Glenda went as “Chloe”, we went to the Crow’s Nest and talked with Vicki, Don, Alan & Sandra, Sue, Aart & Ellen, Tom & Karen and Barbie.  After dinner, we returned and visited with Don, Peter, Barbie, Tom & Karen, Aart & Ellen until 10:30.

Day 22 - January 26 - Vaitape, Bora Bora

Our wake up call was at 7 and it was 79 degrees and cloudy.  Our tour today was at 9 to go snorkeling and swimming around the island.  We had breakfast in the room at 7:20 and then dressed for the tour.  We went to get our tour stickers at 8:40 and were sent directly to the tender.  At shore, we were loaded on a small covered motorboat and went to a private island to swim and do some snorkeling.  It was very shallow and there were not many fish.  I did learn how to de-husk and split a coconut.  The milk and meat were very tasty.  Next we re-boarded the boat and had some fruit and other refreshments before heading over to the Ray & Shark snorkel spot.  We got some great pictures and videos of my encounter.  We got back on the boat and had some chips, peanuts, and water before heading back to the dock.  We walked around and looked in some of the shops and Glenda found a new dress.  We boarded the tender and were back on the ship at 1:30.  I downloaded our pictures and posted the blog for yesterday.  Before dinner, we went to the Crow's Nest and visited with Don, Vicki, Barbie, Tom & Karen.  After dinner we returned and talked with Karen & Tom, Don, Peter, and Barbie until 10:40 when we went to the casino for about 45 minutes.  We did not get rich.

Day 21 - January 25 - Papeete, Tahiti Day 2

We woke up at 8:30 and it was 75 degrees and raining.  We had coffee in the cabin and went to breakfast at 9:45.  Then we went out back and watched the rain and window washer wearing goggles while I worked the Sunday crossword and we visited with Barbie.  Peter came by for a few minutes.  At 11:45, we went up to the Crow’s Nest to give Don his coconut soap and then to the front desk to mail some postcards.  We returned to the cabin to read and I posted the blog for yesterday.  It continued to rain until about 1 but remained very cloudy.  We skipped the sail away and the ship left at 5 for Bora Bora.  Before dinner, we went to the Crow’s Nest and visited with Don, Barbie, Alan & Sandra and Rhea & Herman.  After dinner, we returned and visited with Don, Tom  & Karen, Barbie, Peter, and Jacques.  We stayed until 10:40.

Day 20 - January 24 - Papeete, Tahiti Day 1

We woke up at 8:20 and it was 75 degrees and overcast with a wet verandah.  It was looking like more rain.  We had coffee in the cabin and went to breakfast at 9:45.  Then we went out on the aft deck for the noon sail in.  The threat of rain was gone by the time we entered the barrier reef.  We went back to the cabin at 11:30 to get ready to go ashore.  We ran into Jeff, Anne and Cathy and Brad waiting for the ship to be cleared and finally went ashore at 12:25.  We went to the market to buy coconut soap, a T-shirt and some postcards.  Then we went looking for some sunscreen lotion, but most of the stores were closed.  We finally found a pharmacy that was open and bought some.  Later, we stopped at a café we had been to before for something to drink.  We ran into Alan & Sandra and Tom & Karen there and visited for a while.  We re-boarded the ship at 3:15 and read in the cabin before cleaning up for dinner.  We went to the Crow’s Nest before dinner and visited with Don, Barbie, and Vicki.  After dinner, we returned and visited with Tom & Karen, Don, Peter and Barbie until 11:15.

Day 19 - January 23 - At Sea

We woke up at 8 and it was 81 degrees and cloudy.  We had coffee in the cabin and went to breakfast at 9:30 and then to the aft deck to read and Glenda got some sun.  I returned to the cabin at 12 to do some computer stuff.  I went back to the aft deck at 1.  We came back to the cabin at 3 to get presentable for our 4:45 cocktail meeting with our AMEX hosts.  At 4 we went to bingo and we had 21 people, so we got to play for the 4th time.  We did not win and we went up for our cocktail meeting.  It was our hosts plus one other couple and we talked until 5:45 when we went back to dress for dinner.  We went to the Crow’s Nest before dinner and visited with Tom & Karen, Marylon, Don and Barbie.  After dinner, we returned and visited with Don, Peter, and Barbie until 10:30.  We went to the casino for 30 minutes where Glenda came out ahead and I did not.

Day 18 January 22 - Taiohae, Nuku Hiva, French Polynesia

Gene woke us up at 7:30 with the arrival announcement.  Finally, we see land from our verandah after 8 days at sea.  We love sea days, but 8 in a row has been tough.  It was 79 degrees and sunny.  Gene also came on later and announced that local officials said that no one should go in the water as they are shark infested.  Before breakfast, I went to the front desk to buy CFP Francs.  I got 14000 Francs for $151.41.  We went to breakfast at 9 and took the tender to shore at 9:50. We walked along the shore for about 1.5 miles to the church which features wood carvings and two large spires at the entrance.  It was very warm and sunny, but the wind made it bearable.  On the way back to the dock, we stopped for drinks and did some shopping before catching the tender back and boarding the ship at 12:30.  We went to the aft deck at 2:30 and stayed thru the sail away from 3:30 to 4:30.  We went back to the cabin to clean up for dinner.  Before dinner, we went to the Crow’s Nest and there was no Don.  Glenda finally called his cabin at 7:30 and he had overslept during his afternoon nap and had not looked at how late it was.  He appeared in about 5 minutes.  Everyone had been asking where he was.  After dinner, we returned and visited with Vicki, Peter, Barbie, Don, and others until 11.  We got to set the clocks back one half hour so we are now in line with most other time zones as to the minute of the hour.