At Sea - Feb 29 - Day 56

I got up at 8:15 and it was 82 degrees with 83% humidity and 11 knot winds and apparent winds of 23 knots.  I did not sleep well last night between my Thai chicken curry not agreeing with me and worry about what the itinerary change does to Thea's plan to re-join in Mombasa.  I got email that eases my worries about her trip.  I dressed and went to breakfast at 9:15.  I found a note at my door that they did not have my visa for Sri Lanka so I had to stop by the front desk to show my electronic visa approval for Sri Lanka.  I picked up the daily crossword and continued on to breakfast.  I went up to the Crow's Nest to work the crossword and read and sat beside Don who always has his morning coffee and reads and watches the sea.  We talked a bit and also saw some small dolphins jumping.  I went back to the cabin at 12:15 after I  had noticed that I missed trivia because I wasn't watching the time.  I read until time for bingo.  I bought 3 chances for the 7 day cruise drawing and I did not win that nor did I win at bingo.  Tonight is Bowlers & Bumbershoots Gala.  I got dressed and went to the Crow's Nest at 6:45 and visited with Don, Jim, Karen, and Henk, the hotel manager.  After dinner, I returned to the cabin to try to catch up on my sleep.  I went to bed at 9:30.

Nuku'alofa, Tonga - Fri 02/28 - Day 55

I got up at 6:50 and it was 79 degrees with 88% humidity and 7 knot winds.  I went to breakfast at 7:45 and stopped by to pick up the daily crossword.  We docked about the time I went to breakfast and we had a nice view of the city.  I went out on deck 3 to take some pictures and then finished the crossword and went to shore at 9 for about 40 minutes since I had toured the island multiple times on previous stops here.  I bought a t-shirt and a polo shirt and walked up to the  main street and turned around and returned to the ship.  It was getting very warm.  I downloaded the pictures that I had taken and added them to the blog.  I checked google news and then read and took a short nap.  I read until time for the sail-a-way at 4:30 and went to the back deck pool and had the drink special.  During our departure at 5, the Captain made an announcement that we would be getting a letter describing our itinerary change.  We would not be stopping in Indonesia, Singapore, Male or Mombasa, but would hove 2 overnights in Mumbai, India and an extra stop in the Seychelles and Sri Lanka and an extra night in Zanzibar, Tanzania.  I got ready for the evening and went to the Crow's Nest at 6:45 and talked with Don, Jim & Cathy and Henk, the hotel manager.  After dinner, I went to the cabin.  I went to bed at 9:45.

This palace was in use when I was last here

Must be low tide

Crossing the International Dateline At Sea - Thur 02/27 - Day 54

Last night I went to bed on Tuesday and this morning I got up at 7:40 on Thursday since we crossed the International Dateline sometime last night.  It was 79 degrees with 89% humidity and 12 knot winds with apparent winds of 25 knots.  Since we did not have a Wednesday, according to the When & Where schedule, the Ash Wednesday service will be today.  I went to breakfast at 8:30.  I stopped by and picked up the daily crossword and after breakfast, I went back to the cabin to work it.  Then I read until time for trivia.  I didn't do the walk-a-mile today since my legs are pretty sore from the dancing last night and the wind was fairly strong on deck.  Our trivia team got 11 out 15 but the winning teams had 14 correct.  I checked out the winners from the photo contest and the one of a penguin diving from an ice berg with its nose touching its perfect reflection in the water was the best.  I returned to the cabin to read until time to get ready for the evening.  As you can tell from my posts, I am not a very exciting solo passenger on sea days and even some port stops.  I went to the Crow's Nest at 6:45 and visited with Don and Jim & Cathy.  We had a very nice sunset as seen below.  After dinner, I went back to the cabin and updated the blog entry.  I went to bed at 10. 

 

At Sea Mardi Gras Bead Party - Tues 02/25 - Dqy 53

I got up at 7:30 and it was 75 degrees with 97% humidity and 11 knot winds. I tried the internet for about an hour and finally went to breakfast at 8:50.  I stopped by and got the daily crossword and after breakfast I went to the cabin and worked it and tried the internet some more.  At 10:30, I went for the walk-a-mile with Spenser, a newly boarded assistant cruise director who was also on the 2017 Grand Asia and South Pacific cruise with us.  I returned to the cabin and tried the internet some more with no luck and went team trivia with Silvia & Jerry's team and we got 13 out of 15 correct.  I only knew 5 but as a team we did really well and won ties with another  team.  I returned to the  cabin and read while trying the internet until time to get ready for the Mardi Gras Bead Party and dinner.  I went to the Crow's Nest at 6:45 wearing my New Orleans Mardi Gras shirt and tie and the full mask.  At dinner, I got a small mask that allowed me to eat and drink.  After dinner, I returned to the Crow's Nest to get a seat at the bar and watched the party.  I did dance with Sue and that just about wore me out as the song seemed to last forever.  I finally left at 10:45 and went to the cabin.  Tonight, we crossed the International Dateline and set the clocks forward 23 hours which means that we do not have a Ash Wednesday so I don't know if we have Lent or not.  Tomorrow will be Thursday the 27th of February.  I went to bed at 11:30.  

Avatiu, Rarotonga, Cook Islands - Mon 02/24 - Day 52

I got up at 7 and it was 79 degrees with 94% humidity and light wind.  My tour to day was at one and I needed to take the tender around noon to meet them on the dock.  I went to breakfast at 8 just as we were being cleared to go ashore.   I went out back after breakfast to take a few pictures of the island and then I stopped by the tender ticket desk to see if I needed one for meeting my tour and was told that I only had to show my tour ticket at the tender.  I picked up the daily crossword and returned to the cabin to work it.  I read until time to catch the tender to shore.  I got to the port at 12:10 and had a wait until we boarded the non-air conditioned bus at 12:35.  It was a small bus with narrow seats that I am not sure how some of the residents could fit 2 people.  I luckily had no one beside me. We started to circle the island and stopped at a small museum and I stayed on the bus.  Next stop was at one of the 6 districts' sacred places.  This is where the chief of the district is past on through the bloodline.  Currently, 5 of the 6 chiefs are women whereas in the past women were not even allowed on the sacred land and other rites were carried on including sacrifices, some human ones.  We continued around the island to a monument of the 8 canoes commemorating when hundreds of Maori canoes from here left in search of land and found New Zealand among other islands.  It started to rain fairly hard as we drove past road work that had the small road down to one lane.  As we got back to the port, the rain had stopped and I caught the tender and was back on board at 4:15.   I got read for the evening and I went to the Crow's Nest at 6:45 and talked with Don and Jim & Cathy.  After dinner, I returned to the cabin to try to post my pictures to the blog entry, but the internet would not cooperate.  I went to bed at 10.  I was not able to post this entry until the next night due to the internet problems.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At Sea - Sun 02/23 - Day 51

I got up at 7 and it was 79 degrees with 99% humidity and light winds.  I managed to get yesterday's post to go as the internet is still a bit stubborn.  I went to breakfast at 8:30 and stopped by to pick up the daily crossword.  I worked the puzzle and read until time for trivia.  I played on the team again and I knew 9 out of the 15 questions and as a team, we got 11.  The winning team had 12, so we were pretty good today.  I returned to the cabin and read until time for bingo.  Don won the first game for $67 dollars and I got within 2 numbers of the last game's prize of $183 but no luck.  I read until time to get ready for the Tropical Paradise Dinner.  I went to the Crow's Nest at 6:45 and talked with Dennis and Carol, the crafts teacher.  After dinner, I took my Filipino straw hat to the cabin and then went to the show with Australian Annie Frances singing hits from the 70s.  It was a very good show and I finished the day's blog entry and went to bed at 11.

Papeete, Tahiti - Sat 02/22 - Day 50

I woke up at 6:15 (5:15 new time) and it was 79 degrees with 84% humidity.  It was still dark out and we were scheduled to dock at 8.  There is a chance of thunderstorms with a high of 87.  I applied sunscreen in case it is sunny and finally got yesterday's blog entry to post.  I went to breakfast at 7:10 and stopped by deck 3 to take some port pictures.  I went back to the cabin until 8:15 when I went to town and walked to the market.  I bought 6 bars of Tiki Tahiti soap and a Hinano beer T-shirt.  I walked around for a bit and took some pictures of the street art and the city hall building before returning to the dock and taking some pictures of the dancers.  I re-boarded the ship at 9:30 as it was getting very warm out and I couldn't find a place to buy a Hinano beer.  I downloaded my pictures and put them in the blog entry.  I went up to turn in my Tongan health certificate and pick up my passport for New Zealand and Australia.  I also got today's crossword and returned to the cabin to work it.  Later, I read until time to get ready for the National Margarita Day with happy hour for margaritas all day.  I went to the Crow's Nest at 5:30 for the sail away and had margaritas.  We didn't sail until 6:35 and Don's seat was not available when he came up.  He sat with me at the other end of the bar and I gave him a bar of the soap I bought.  I visited with Don, Jim & Cathy and Karen.  Sonny and the girl from the Explorations Cafe sang the duet "The Prayer" and I videoed it on my phone.  Rey & Melissa from the bar gave me a pisco sour due to not having the pisco several nights ago when I had one coming from an earlier happy hour and they had to substitute something else.  After dinner, I returned to the cabin and went to bed at 10.