Tonga appeared on the horizon as just a long, flat piece of land. It was cloudy and extremely windy on our approach; so windy, in fact, that the captain announced that we would not be able to dock as planned, we would have to anchor out in the water and tender in to port.
We had a tour planned and when we got to our meeting place we heard the ship’s crew sending people back to their cabins to change out of shorts, as shorts are not allowed to be worn on Tonga. So we put on our long pants and climbed into our un-air conditioned buses for the tour.
Tourism seems to be a new venture on Tonga and later many people complained about the excursion, but we felt we should go with the flow and just experience whatever they had to offer. The landscape was like a jungle, extremely thick vegetation with a few houses scattered around.
The first stop was the King’s palace, which was a Victorian style house. The Tongans are not much enamored of their newest King; our guide gave us 5 minutes to see the palace. Next we went to a natural bridge that our guide, Toa, called the beach. We were actually on the top of a hill and the view of the coastline revealed spectacular cliffs. The scenery was lovely but there was a lot of garbage and the area smelled like manure. Toa was all apologies over the odor.
Next stop was the highlight of the day, the blowholes. The tide was low and when we got there not much was happening, but as we stood there clouds gathered quickly and it started to rain and while it was raining huge waves formed and the blowholes gave us an incredible show. Water spewed up into the air several hundred feet and this was happening all up and down the beach. Quite a stunning sight.
Next on our itinerary were the “flying foxes” which is what Tongans call bats. Bats are Tonga’s only wild land mammal and they are sacred to the Tongans. This species is large with a wing span of about 3 feet. We pulled up to a grove of trees by the side of the road and the trees were covered with giant sleeping bats. The presence of people must have awakened the bats because in a few minutes many of them were flying around squawking angrily as if we had disturbed their naps. It was eerie.
The final destination was a resort on the beach. They had a very nice buffet, including seaweed, taro root and raw fish. Of course, not being a very adventurous eater, I didn’t partake of the food, but I heard it was very good. After lunch a group of young Tongan dancers put on a show for us.
I couldn’t help but compare the Tongan people with the Samoans. Tongans are not as good looking as Samoans. They are very friendly and welcoming but they don’t smile as much and don’t seem to have the same joyfulness as Samoans. The dances, especially the ones by the men, are like war dances, violent and angry. Like the Samoans, Tongan men often wear skirts. The women wear a woven belt of their own design and they must wear them when they enter a church or government building; otherwise they will be asked to leave.
We recently met a couple, Brenna and Austin, who were so excited to meet some “young” people that Brenna organized a dinner last night at the Pinnacle Grill, which is the upscale restaurant on the ship. There were 8 of us; Brenna and Austin, Kris and Ray, Debra and Dick and Ed and I. We had a wild time. Had a very nice dinner and then went dancing. The wine was flowing and we were all pretty happy and now I’m the queen of the electric slide. We stayed up until 1AM which is about 3-4 hours later than we’ve stayed up this whole cruise. Didn’t wake up until almost 10; needless to say, I missed my 7AM aerobics class.
We’re cruising toward Auckland, New Zealand and will arrive there tomorrow morning. At the Tonga resort, as we were waiting in line for the ladies room and the Tongan women were passing out toilet paper while mosquitoes buzzed and lizards scampered, the woman before me turned to me and said “Please tell me this is the last island before civilization”. I think that says it all.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Apia, Samoa
Last night we crossed the International Date Line. When we went to bed it was Saturday night and when we woke this morning it was Monday. We’re pretty sure it is still Sunday in Cincy and apparently we will continue to turn our clocks back as we sail westward until we again catch up with Eastern Standard time. Most people on the ship seem to be unclear about how this works and even the ship’s Daily Program gave us a vague explanation.
Today is the first time in 3 days that we’ve seen the sun. We seem to have gotten into a stalled weather pattern of rain, rain and more rain. But we weren’t bothered too much. We could sit around the pool with an iced tea or a mojito and watch the rain hitting the dome above.
Yesterday we spent the day in Apia, Samoa which is my favorite place so far on this trip. It isn’t that Samoa is more beautiful than other islands or that it has more to offer, but it’s the people that make it so wonderful. They are very attractive to look at, with golden skin and dark hair. They are very friendly and have an aura of peaceful joy around them. They seem very relaxed and comfortable with life. They are very religious people; we saw churches of every denomination, including a large Mormon complex.
The city of Apia is very small, just one main road and a few side streets, and it’s very clean. Each morning the police band parades through town as flags are raised over the government buildings and everything stops for the formalities. Then all the merchants and residents sweep the streets until they’re spotless.
It was raining almost all day. We got onto a tour bus that took us around the island to see the sights. We visited the vegetable and flea market, which was fascinating. The vegetables were large, varied and abundant. It was Saturday so it was a very busy place. Just outside the market there was a checkers tournament being played (men only) and they were quite serious about their game.
We visited the home of Robert Louis Stevenson which was a palatial house on gorgeous grounds. There we saw the first of two shows the Samoans put on for us. This was another thing that endeared these people to me. Their music, singing and dancing conveyed such enthusiasm and spirit that I just wanted to rush the stage and hug them and dance along with them. Back on the ship that afternoon a local church youth group performed for us and it was obvious that their lust for life begins at a very young age.
That’s all for today. Tomorrow: Nuku’Alofa, Tonga.
Today is the first time in 3 days that we’ve seen the sun. We seem to have gotten into a stalled weather pattern of rain, rain and more rain. But we weren’t bothered too much. We could sit around the pool with an iced tea or a mojito and watch the rain hitting the dome above.
Yesterday we spent the day in Apia, Samoa which is my favorite place so far on this trip. It isn’t that Samoa is more beautiful than other islands or that it has more to offer, but it’s the people that make it so wonderful. They are very attractive to look at, with golden skin and dark hair. They are very friendly and have an aura of peaceful joy around them. They seem very relaxed and comfortable with life. They are very religious people; we saw churches of every denomination, including a large Mormon complex.
The city of Apia is very small, just one main road and a few side streets, and it’s very clean. Each morning the police band parades through town as flags are raised over the government buildings and everything stops for the formalities. Then all the merchants and residents sweep the streets until they’re spotless.
It was raining almost all day. We got onto a tour bus that took us around the island to see the sights. We visited the vegetable and flea market, which was fascinating. The vegetables were large, varied and abundant. It was Saturday so it was a very busy place. Just outside the market there was a checkers tournament being played (men only) and they were quite serious about their game.
We visited the home of Robert Louis Stevenson which was a palatial house on gorgeous grounds. There we saw the first of two shows the Samoans put on for us. This was another thing that endeared these people to me. Their music, singing and dancing conveyed such enthusiasm and spirit that I just wanted to rush the stage and hug them and dance along with them. Back on the ship that afternoon a local church youth group performed for us and it was obvious that their lust for life begins at a very young age.
That’s all for today. Tomorrow: Nuku’Alofa, Tonga.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Bora Bora
Bora Bora
I’m sitting out on the back deck of the ship at the Sea View pool and, as Carter would say, I’m “livin’ the life”. The sun is quite hot so this may be a short blog, much to the relief of a lot of people, I’m sure.
The contest is over for the most beautiful island in French Polynesia. And the winner is…..Moorea! We spent yesterday in Bora Bora and all the hype brought to mind the phrase “over-promised and under-delivered”. Bora Bora, like Tahiti, looks much better from the ship than it does up close. We rode in a windowless, wooden truck/bus and bumped and jiggled our way around the island. Not much to see but crackerbox houses and unfinished reconstruction projects dating from the 1991 hurricane.
There are a couple of points of interest, though. One is that Bora Borans (?) don’t have a public cemetery. They bury their dead in the front yards! So you see the teeny tiny houses with teeny tiny yards filled with graves. Kind of creepy!
The sand crabs are cute to watch. They are fairly large and live in holes. Each seat in the truck had a hibiscus flower hanging above it and we stopped on the side of the road and threw the flowers out the holes where windows should have been and watched the crabs emerge from the holes, grab the hibiscus and drag it down into the hole. Occasionally two crabs would want the same flower and a fight would ensue. It was quite fascinating to watch and I consider it the highlight of the ride.
Our final stop was Bloody Mary’s, an institution on the island and the home of the original Bloody Mary drink. Many many famous people have visited and there is an interesting wall of fame but the place is a tourist trap and the Bloody Mary was way to spicy for my taste.
People really are funny. Last week most passengers were craving the sight of land. Then, last night after the show Bruce, the cruise director, came on stage to wish us a good night and when he said we have two consecutive sea days, the audience applauded as if the 3 port days in a row had been an arduous and exhausting experience. As human beings, will we ever be satisfied?
We have a new speaker series, an anthropologist who lectured today about the origin of the people from Polynesia. He sounded like he thought he was talking to a group of post-doctoral candidates. I think I absorbed about 1/100th of what he said. It looks like we’ll have a new enrichment speaker about every 2 weeks so we’ll really be cultured when we get home, but not to worry, Ed says he has an antibiotic that will clear that right up.
Well, it wasn’t all that short, but it sure was sweet, wasn’t it? More later, from our next port of call, Apia, Samoa.
I’m sitting out on the back deck of the ship at the Sea View pool and, as Carter would say, I’m “livin’ the life”. The sun is quite hot so this may be a short blog, much to the relief of a lot of people, I’m sure.
The contest is over for the most beautiful island in French Polynesia. And the winner is…..Moorea! We spent yesterday in Bora Bora and all the hype brought to mind the phrase “over-promised and under-delivered”. Bora Bora, like Tahiti, looks much better from the ship than it does up close. We rode in a windowless, wooden truck/bus and bumped and jiggled our way around the island. Not much to see but crackerbox houses and unfinished reconstruction projects dating from the 1991 hurricane.
There are a couple of points of interest, though. One is that Bora Borans (?) don’t have a public cemetery. They bury their dead in the front yards! So you see the teeny tiny houses with teeny tiny yards filled with graves. Kind of creepy!
The sand crabs are cute to watch. They are fairly large and live in holes. Each seat in the truck had a hibiscus flower hanging above it and we stopped on the side of the road and threw the flowers out the holes where windows should have been and watched the crabs emerge from the holes, grab the hibiscus and drag it down into the hole. Occasionally two crabs would want the same flower and a fight would ensue. It was quite fascinating to watch and I consider it the highlight of the ride.
Our final stop was Bloody Mary’s, an institution on the island and the home of the original Bloody Mary drink. Many many famous people have visited and there is an interesting wall of fame but the place is a tourist trap and the Bloody Mary was way to spicy for my taste.
People really are funny. Last week most passengers were craving the sight of land. Then, last night after the show Bruce, the cruise director, came on stage to wish us a good night and when he said we have two consecutive sea days, the audience applauded as if the 3 port days in a row had been an arduous and exhausting experience. As human beings, will we ever be satisfied?
We have a new speaker series, an anthropologist who lectured today about the origin of the people from Polynesia. He sounded like he thought he was talking to a group of post-doctoral candidates. I think I absorbed about 1/100th of what he said. It looks like we’ll have a new enrichment speaker about every 2 weeks so we’ll really be cultured when we get home, but not to worry, Ed says he has an antibiotic that will clear that right up.
Well, it wasn’t all that short, but it sure was sweet, wasn’t it? More later, from our next port of call, Apia, Samoa.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Papeete, Tahiti and Moorea
Remember those sand midges I mentioned in my last blog? Well, they got me. My arms are covered with red, itchy welts and I have some on my legs and shoulders, too. I think they’re first cousins of the no-see-ums that inhabit the southern states. I guess I was too cavalier about them. I’ll try to heed the warnings a little better in the future.
I have to tell about Sunday’s football games. Lots of people were anxious to see the games and it was a mystery as to whether the ship would have satellite reception or not. Rumors and guesses were flying. Ten AM Sunday came and no football. So Ed got our computer and took it to the ship’s sport bar and logged onto NFL.com, from which he could read the plays as they happened. The first game didn’t draw much of a crowd but the Green Bay/New York game did and Ed was in his element, doing play-by-play commentary for almost 4 hours. More and more people came until the crowd was 3-4 deep. Since it was costing Ed each minute to have it on, someone got a casino bucket and attached a sign to it that said “Donations for Ed’s Internet minutes”. We collected $112.50 in the bucket, most of which we’re donating to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Then someone else sent around a petition for asking Holland America to credit Ed’s internet account. The whole day was a lot of fun and now Ed is very popular on the ship among the sports fans.
Tahiti and Moorea!! They’re only about 10 miles apart but might as well be 10 centuries apart. Papeete was, for the most part, a disappointment, but Moorea was a very pleasant surprise. When I envisioned Tahiti it was a lush, unspoiled island of sun and sand and palm trees and beautiful women in colorful clothes and brown-skinned men in flowered shirts. But in reality that’s Moorea. Papeete is a city with lots of traffic, people and run down buildings. We did get to see the home of James Norman Hall, who is the author of Mutiny on the Bounty. He came here from Iowa to research a book about the South Pacific and never left.
We sailed into Moorea at 8AM and our approach brought to mind the original King Kong movie where they go into the interior of the country looking for the big gorilla. The only thing missing was the savages doing their sacrificial dance. This is the island where the scenic shots in the movie Bali Hai were filmed. It’s a perfect combination of rocky peaks and lush green hillsides. We went on a 4X4 Safari Adventure in an 8-passenger open-air truck which climbed the hills on steep, muddy dirt roads with lots of switchbacks. The highest climb ended at Magic Mountain with panoramic views of the bay and the majestic peaks surrounding it. I’m struggling to find the words to describe what we experienced. Everyone we talked to on the ship agrees that this is one of the most beautiful places on Earth and must be seen to be appreciated.
That’s all for now. I’m suffering from sand midge bites and writer’s block.
I have to tell about Sunday’s football games. Lots of people were anxious to see the games and it was a mystery as to whether the ship would have satellite reception or not. Rumors and guesses were flying. Ten AM Sunday came and no football. So Ed got our computer and took it to the ship’s sport bar and logged onto NFL.com, from which he could read the plays as they happened. The first game didn’t draw much of a crowd but the Green Bay/New York game did and Ed was in his element, doing play-by-play commentary for almost 4 hours. More and more people came until the crowd was 3-4 deep. Since it was costing Ed each minute to have it on, someone got a casino bucket and attached a sign to it that said “Donations for Ed’s Internet minutes”. We collected $112.50 in the bucket, most of which we’re donating to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Then someone else sent around a petition for asking Holland America to credit Ed’s internet account. The whole day was a lot of fun and now Ed is very popular on the ship among the sports fans.
Tahiti and Moorea!! They’re only about 10 miles apart but might as well be 10 centuries apart. Papeete was, for the most part, a disappointment, but Moorea was a very pleasant surprise. When I envisioned Tahiti it was a lush, unspoiled island of sun and sand and palm trees and beautiful women in colorful clothes and brown-skinned men in flowered shirts. But in reality that’s Moorea. Papeete is a city with lots of traffic, people and run down buildings. We did get to see the home of James Norman Hall, who is the author of Mutiny on the Bounty. He came here from Iowa to research a book about the South Pacific and never left.
We sailed into Moorea at 8AM and our approach brought to mind the original King Kong movie where they go into the interior of the country looking for the big gorilla. The only thing missing was the savages doing their sacrificial dance. This is the island where the scenic shots in the movie Bali Hai were filmed. It’s a perfect combination of rocky peaks and lush green hillsides. We went on a 4X4 Safari Adventure in an 8-passenger open-air truck which climbed the hills on steep, muddy dirt roads with lots of switchbacks. The highest climb ended at Magic Mountain with panoramic views of the bay and the majestic peaks surrounding it. I’m struggling to find the words to describe what we experienced. Everyone we talked to on the ship agrees that this is one of the most beautiful places on Earth and must be seen to be appreciated.
That’s all for now. I’m suffering from sand midge bites and writer’s block.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Packers lose to Giants
The ship could not show game on TV. Ed set up his computer and did play by play reading each play off the NFL website. By games end about 40 people joined in.
Nuka Hiva, Marquesas Islands, Frech Polynesia
We have sailed altogether 5749 nautical miles from Ft. Lauderdale and we finally got to see land this morning for the first time in over a week. We anchored at the island of Nuku Hiva. This is the island where Survivor, Season 4 took place. The actual site of Survivor was on the far side of the island so we didn’t get to see it.
There’s a giant rock acting as a sentry at the bay entrance. The jagged terrain and rugged coastline are striking. There are a few palm trees but mostly the hills are green and rocky. The bay itself is reminiscent of an undeveloped, unpopulated and unspoiled Charlotte Amalie, the capital of St. Thomas. The “downtown” is called Baie Taiohae and consists of exactly nothing. There are 2 or 3 tourist souvenir shops, a bank, a school and a couple of churches. One road serves the island and cars and people are few and far between. Roosters crowed continuously as chickens and dogs joined us on our trek along the waterfront. Flowering trees and bushes were everywhere in reds, oranges, pinks, purples, yellows and whites. Gardenias, with their heavenly smell, were abundant.
As we walked we saw Tikis scattered along the roadside. Tikis are ancient sacred icons that were worshipped by the first settlers of Polynesia before the French took over the islands. They are very interesting rock carvings that have lasted for centuries.
We met up with our friends Dick and Debra and walked to a small resort at the far end of the island. The hotel is called Keikahanui and it sits on a hill overlooking the bay. It was a hot and humid day so we had a beer and were joined by three other people, Cynthia and Charles from Tampa and Eric Dunn, the astronomy lecturer on the ship. The hot sun and the Tahitian beer made us all a little giddy and we had a very nice time. As we left we discovered a path down the hill to the black beach and Debra and I took off our shoes and walked along the water’s edge. It was Saturday and a large group of Nuku Hivans were having a picnic and swimming in the ocean. We had been warned about sharks in the water but apparently the natives didn’t get the message because they seemed totally unaware that they were in grave danger. We had also been warned about sand midges, or “nonos”, insects that can deliver a vicious bite, but Deb and I threw caution to the wind and braved it anyway.
We’ve just finished the On Deck For The Cure 5K walk for breast cancer. We all met in the Atrium this AM dressed in our On Deck for the Cure T-shirts and pink bracelets. There were 200+ people altogether. The cruise director, Bruce, read us an email he had gotten from his sister-in-law this morning. She had a double mastectomy four days ago and her message was very moving. We did a few stretches and then proceeded out to the deck to begin our walk. At the end of the walk they had pink lemonade for everyone and I’m sitting here enjoying mine right now.
Next stop Papeete, Tahiti.
There’s a giant rock acting as a sentry at the bay entrance. The jagged terrain and rugged coastline are striking. There are a few palm trees but mostly the hills are green and rocky. The bay itself is reminiscent of an undeveloped, unpopulated and unspoiled Charlotte Amalie, the capital of St. Thomas. The “downtown” is called Baie Taiohae and consists of exactly nothing. There are 2 or 3 tourist souvenir shops, a bank, a school and a couple of churches. One road serves the island and cars and people are few and far between. Roosters crowed continuously as chickens and dogs joined us on our trek along the waterfront. Flowering trees and bushes were everywhere in reds, oranges, pinks, purples, yellows and whites. Gardenias, with their heavenly smell, were abundant.
As we walked we saw Tikis scattered along the roadside. Tikis are ancient sacred icons that were worshipped by the first settlers of Polynesia before the French took over the islands. They are very interesting rock carvings that have lasted for centuries.
We met up with our friends Dick and Debra and walked to a small resort at the far end of the island. The hotel is called Keikahanui and it sits on a hill overlooking the bay. It was a hot and humid day so we had a beer and were joined by three other people, Cynthia and Charles from Tampa and Eric Dunn, the astronomy lecturer on the ship. The hot sun and the Tahitian beer made us all a little giddy and we had a very nice time. As we left we discovered a path down the hill to the black beach and Debra and I took off our shoes and walked along the water’s edge. It was Saturday and a large group of Nuku Hivans were having a picnic and swimming in the ocean. We had been warned about sharks in the water but apparently the natives didn’t get the message because they seemed totally unaware that they were in grave danger. We had also been warned about sand midges, or “nonos”, insects that can deliver a vicious bite, but Deb and I threw caution to the wind and braved it anyway.
We’ve just finished the On Deck For The Cure 5K walk for breast cancer. We all met in the Atrium this AM dressed in our On Deck for the Cure T-shirts and pink bracelets. There were 200+ people altogether. The cruise director, Bruce, read us an email he had gotten from his sister-in-law this morning. She had a double mastectomy four days ago and her message was very moving. We did a few stretches and then proceeded out to the deck to begin our walk. At the end of the walk they had pink lemonade for everyone and I’m sitting here enjoying mine right now.
Next stop Papeete, Tahiti.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Day 7 at Sea
We’re on day 7 of 8 sea days and we’ve enjoyed it tremendously but I think most people would agree that land will be a welcome sight. The only thing we’ve seen for a week is a school of flying fish and a pod of dolphins. Otherwise its just water, water, water. It’s amazing how immense the Pacific Ocean is.
Our days are filled with exercise, lectures, food, reading, relaxing, sunning, etc. I’ve gone to a few craft classes and take an aerobics class almost daily. Ed and I try to get into the hot tub every day too. We have dinner at 5:45 every evening, which is kind of early for us but it does mean that there is less time for drinking before dinner (a good thing) and more time after dinner for other activities. We like our dinner companions but don’t socialize with them too much other than at dinner. We’ve met another couple, Dick and Debra, who we enjoy very much and are spending time with them more and more. In fact, tonight we’re having dinner with them at the Pinnacle Grill, which is the upscale restaurant onboard. Dick and Debra have befriended one of the comedians who has performed for us and he and his wife will be joining us this evening at the Grill.
Most evenings, though, are pretty low key. There’s a nice movie theater on board and we’ve been to 3 movies after dinner or we check a movie out of the library and watch it in our room. We’ve done a little gambling and are currently $7 in the black. They have 1 cent, 2 cent, and 5 cent slots which I love. It takes me a long time to spend a buck.
We’ve had lots of great entertainment while we’ve been captives on the ship. The best speaker is Eric Dunn who is an astronomer. He’s lectured on the constellations and the planets and the first night Ed and I went outside and we could see the Constellation Orion right away. Orion has been following us ever since. We are looking forward to seeing the Southern Cross when we get to the Polynesian Islands this weekend. We also got to see the first pictures of the planet Mercury that were sent to Earth on Tuesday. That was quite interesting as well.
For the last several days we’ve had talks by Barbara, who is the expert on the ports we’re going to visit and her speaking style and great enthusiasm is making us even more excited about reaching solid ground again. The first 4 places we’ll visit are Nuku Hiva, Papeete, Moorea and Bora Bora and are reputedly lush, unspoiled islands with lots to offer visitors. There will be much more forthcoming on these places after our stops.
On every world cruise Holland America chooses a charity and sponsors an event for the passengers to participate in. This cruise it happens to be the Susan G. Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer! Since my diagnosis and mastectomy was just 3 months ago, this charity is very close to my heart (no pun intended). We’ll definitely participate in the walk which will be this Sunday, the 20th.
I couldn’t write for the blog without mentioning the NFL Playoff games this weekend. We are keeping our fingers crossed that the ship can get the signal and we can watch the game. Ed has developed a reputation as the go-to guy for football statistics and updates.
I have a new name. All my cruise documents are under my legal name, Mary Suzanne McCarter, and they have misspelled Mary in the one of the computer programs onboard. So many of the things I receive in the mail are addressed to Maky McCarter. Our room steward calls me Miss Maky (sounds like Mackey) and now Ed has started calling me Maky too. The catchphrase seems to be “look out, old Maky’s back”. I think I like it.
I know this is long and wordy and if you’ve reached this point in the blog I thank you. If you gave up halfway through, who can blame you?
Our days are filled with exercise, lectures, food, reading, relaxing, sunning, etc. I’ve gone to a few craft classes and take an aerobics class almost daily. Ed and I try to get into the hot tub every day too. We have dinner at 5:45 every evening, which is kind of early for us but it does mean that there is less time for drinking before dinner (a good thing) and more time after dinner for other activities. We like our dinner companions but don’t socialize with them too much other than at dinner. We’ve met another couple, Dick and Debra, who we enjoy very much and are spending time with them more and more. In fact, tonight we’re having dinner with them at the Pinnacle Grill, which is the upscale restaurant onboard. Dick and Debra have befriended one of the comedians who has performed for us and he and his wife will be joining us this evening at the Grill.
Most evenings, though, are pretty low key. There’s a nice movie theater on board and we’ve been to 3 movies after dinner or we check a movie out of the library and watch it in our room. We’ve done a little gambling and are currently $7 in the black. They have 1 cent, 2 cent, and 5 cent slots which I love. It takes me a long time to spend a buck.
We’ve had lots of great entertainment while we’ve been captives on the ship. The best speaker is Eric Dunn who is an astronomer. He’s lectured on the constellations and the planets and the first night Ed and I went outside and we could see the Constellation Orion right away. Orion has been following us ever since. We are looking forward to seeing the Southern Cross when we get to the Polynesian Islands this weekend. We also got to see the first pictures of the planet Mercury that were sent to Earth on Tuesday. That was quite interesting as well.
For the last several days we’ve had talks by Barbara, who is the expert on the ports we’re going to visit and her speaking style and great enthusiasm is making us even more excited about reaching solid ground again. The first 4 places we’ll visit are Nuku Hiva, Papeete, Moorea and Bora Bora and are reputedly lush, unspoiled islands with lots to offer visitors. There will be much more forthcoming on these places after our stops.
On every world cruise Holland America chooses a charity and sponsors an event for the passengers to participate in. This cruise it happens to be the Susan G. Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer! Since my diagnosis and mastectomy was just 3 months ago, this charity is very close to my heart (no pun intended). We’ll definitely participate in the walk which will be this Sunday, the 20th.
I couldn’t write for the blog without mentioning the NFL Playoff games this weekend. We are keeping our fingers crossed that the ship can get the signal and we can watch the game. Ed has developed a reputation as the go-to guy for football statistics and updates.
I have a new name. All my cruise documents are under my legal name, Mary Suzanne McCarter, and they have misspelled Mary in the one of the computer programs onboard. So many of the things I receive in the mail are addressed to Maky McCarter. Our room steward calls me Miss Maky (sounds like Mackey) and now Ed has started calling me Maky too. The catchphrase seems to be “look out, old Maky’s back”. I think I like it.
I know this is long and wordy and if you’ve reached this point in the blog I thank you. If you gave up halfway through, who can blame you?
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Monday, January 14, 2008
Clear Sailing 4th Day at Sea
Scattered clouds, sunny and 70 degrees. Mild seas but a slight increase of the ship rocking last night.
We are 800 miles west of Galapagos and crossed into the southern hemisphere at 10:30 this morning officially entering the South Pacific.
Sunday the satellite gods kept the football games off the air, but we were able to follow the scores with the internet. Giants pull off the big upset and are heading to Green Bay!
We are 800 miles west of Galapagos and crossed into the southern hemisphere at 10:30 this morning officially entering the South Pacific.
Sunday the satellite gods kept the football games off the air, but we were able to follow the scores with the internet. Giants pull off the big upset and are heading to Green Bay!
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Packers WIN
All was well watching the Packer game. Although many were scared when they were down 14-0. There are a lot of New England fans on aboard, but the reception for the second game didn't work so nobody on board could watch. Vince only let the Packer game through!
Let's hope the Giants can pull a big upset.
We are about 250 northwest of Galapagos still north of the equator.
Sunny, 75 with mild wavelets .3 to 1.5 foot waves.
ED
Let's hope the Giants can pull a big upset.
We are about 250 northwest of Galapagos still north of the equator.
Sunny, 75 with mild wavelets .3 to 1.5 foot waves.
ED
Friday, January 11, 2008
Greetings from the Pacific Ocean
We are heading southwest towards Marquesas Inlands from Panama. It is a sunny 72 degree day with calm seas.
We have had problems on board the ship with internet connections and are having troubles with email. When we do have a good connection to the net we’ve run into technical problems downloading pictures to the blog. We are working on it but have not solved it yet.
Happy Sailing
ED
We have had problems on board the ship with internet connections and are having troubles with email. When we do have a good connection to the net we’ve run into technical problems downloading pictures to the blog. We are working on it but have not solved it yet.
Happy Sailing
ED
Embera Indians, Panama
Fuertes Amador, Panama
On Wednesday we spent the whole day traversing the Panama Canal. If you’ve never done it, I highly recommend it. It’s very interesting. That evening we anchored in waters outside Panama City, with a spectacular view of this large city with many tall buildings.
Early the next morning we embarked on a tour which would take us to the Embera Indian Village, about 2 hours north of the city. We traveled by bus for those two hours and were very impressed by the beauty and cleanliness of the city. We were mainly in the Canal Zone, which boasted tree-lined streets, modern buildings, lush vegetation, and the ubiquitous McDonalds. Along the way the bus suddenly stopped, as did traffic going the other way, to let a small anteater cross the road. Our guide, Christian, celebrated the fact that this anteater made it across, as it seems that most don’t make the trek.
After almost 2 hours we entered the Chagres National Park and finally arrived at an inlet where we boarded dugout canoes, each of which would hold about 20 people. Each canoe had a small outboard motor with a driver and a guide. We had a 45-minute ride down the spectacularly beautiful Chagres River before we saw the Indian village. This village was straight out of the National Geographic articles we remember as children. The men wore nothing but a loincloth and the women wore nothing but a piece of fabric wrapped around their middles, a necklace and maybe a wreath of flowers in their hair. I’m sure the bare-breasted women and girls were a fantasy fulfilled for many of the male tourists in our group! We spent a couple of hours exploring their little village of thatched huts. The people welcomed us with a native dance, a little speech by the village chief and an offering of their handmade crafts for purchase. Then we piled into our canoes and returned to civilization, marveling that there are people in this world who still live in an innocent, unspoiled and primitive environment.
We have begun our 8-day stretch of sea days. Ed and I both love the sea days; however, we’ve never had 8 of them in a row. We shall give a full report at the end of the 8 days as to how we fared. We seem to have established a routine similar to our days at home. We go our separate ways during the day, meeting occasionally for a lecture or just by chance. Then we spend our nights together, for dinner and afterwards. We’ve had some varied entertainment on board, some better than others, but we’re enjoying it immensely. Tonight will be taken up by football; the Packers play Seattle so we can’t miss that. But we will be missing the Black and White Ball and a formal dinner. Oh, well, 19 more formal nights to come.
More later. Love to everyone!!
On Wednesday we spent the whole day traversing the Panama Canal. If you’ve never done it, I highly recommend it. It’s very interesting. That evening we anchored in waters outside Panama City, with a spectacular view of this large city with many tall buildings.
Early the next morning we embarked on a tour which would take us to the Embera Indian Village, about 2 hours north of the city. We traveled by bus for those two hours and were very impressed by the beauty and cleanliness of the city. We were mainly in the Canal Zone, which boasted tree-lined streets, modern buildings, lush vegetation, and the ubiquitous McDonalds. Along the way the bus suddenly stopped, as did traffic going the other way, to let a small anteater cross the road. Our guide, Christian, celebrated the fact that this anteater made it across, as it seems that most don’t make the trek.
After almost 2 hours we entered the Chagres National Park and finally arrived at an inlet where we boarded dugout canoes, each of which would hold about 20 people. Each canoe had a small outboard motor with a driver and a guide. We had a 45-minute ride down the spectacularly beautiful Chagres River before we saw the Indian village. This village was straight out of the National Geographic articles we remember as children. The men wore nothing but a loincloth and the women wore nothing but a piece of fabric wrapped around their middles, a necklace and maybe a wreath of flowers in their hair. I’m sure the bare-breasted women and girls were a fantasy fulfilled for many of the male tourists in our group! We spent a couple of hours exploring their little village of thatched huts. The people welcomed us with a native dance, a little speech by the village chief and an offering of their handmade crafts for purchase. Then we piled into our canoes and returned to civilization, marveling that there are people in this world who still live in an innocent, unspoiled and primitive environment.
We have begun our 8-day stretch of sea days. Ed and I both love the sea days; however, we’ve never had 8 of them in a row. We shall give a full report at the end of the 8 days as to how we fared. We seem to have established a routine similar to our days at home. We go our separate ways during the day, meeting occasionally for a lecture or just by chance. Then we spend our nights together, for dinner and afterwards. We’ve had some varied entertainment on board, some better than others, but we’re enjoying it immensely. Tonight will be taken up by football; the Packers play Seattle so we can’t miss that. But we will be missing the Black and White Ball and a formal dinner. Oh, well, 19 more formal nights to come.
More later. Love to everyone!!
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Costa Rica
OK all you non-believers out there (and you know who you are), here’s the next edition of Where In the World Are Suzanne and Ed. I’ve come to realize that one of the advantages of having advertised that we would have a blog is that I’m obligated to write one. So that makes me much more alert and aware of my surroundings when we’re off the ship.
A little ship trivia: We are astonished at the number of people on this ship who have cruised around the world multiple times. One lady at our dinner table is on her 14th World cruise! We hear from the cruise staff that many people use cruise ships as a retirement home. Apparently in some cases it’s cheaper. Hence, a majority of very senior citizens.
Also, there seems to be a lot of older men and younger women, affectionately dubbed “arm candy” by our new friend Francis.
I’ve had a brush with greatness!! Regis Philbin and his wife, Joy, are on the ship. They did a show for us one night and I saw them around the ship for a couple of days. Even had a little chat with Regis about the scale in the gym. Rumor has it they’ll get off in Panama.
Yesterday we spent the day in Costa Rica, docking in Puerta Limon. We’ve been to Costa Rica before but have never docked at this port. We had signed up for an Off-Road Adventure tour and were hoping it was going to be a good one. When we walked off the ship, there in front of us was a mega-Hummer type vehicle with giant tires. I crossed my fingers that it was ours and it was. Our guide was Eric and our driver was Jose and this was their homemade truck/tour bus. Island tour guides are often quite funny and these two didn’t disappoint us. We traveled mainly on dirt roads through the rain forest, stopped for a picnic of some local specialties, including Costa Rican beer and a local liquor called guavo (not to be confused with guano). I, of course, had some of each and was a little tipsy for the rest of the tour.
A few tidbits about Costa Rica: The animal of the day is the sloth. Sloths are the slowest-moving animals on the planet and they live in trees. They eat tender leaves from the trees and come down once a week to go to the bathroom. They cover up their excrement and go back up the tree. The most interesting thing about them is that after they eat they must have sun on their stomachs to absorb the proteins necessary for digestion. If they can’t get sun they will starve to death, even though they have a belly full of food.
Eric talked about the sales tax structure in Costa Rica and it is quite interesting. Sales tax on a car is 85% because the government doesn’t want the citizens to have cars. Public transportation is very good and very cheap. Taxes on luxuries like TVs, stereos, video games and other amusements are also very high, 65-80%. In a grocery store, taxes vary from 7% down to less than 1% according to what you buy, with staples like rice and beans being taxed the least. It’s an interesting concept.
He also talked about their illegal immigrant problem. Illegals come mostly from Nicaragua because the economy there is so bad and the government so corrupt. The Costa Ricans don’t want to do jobs like picking bananas and coffee beans so the aliens do the job. After two years they are given housing because it is illegal to be homeless in Costa Rica. Health care is also free. The Costa Ricans see this as a growing problem. Sound familiar?
Signing off for now. Suzanne and Ed.
A little ship trivia: We are astonished at the number of people on this ship who have cruised around the world multiple times. One lady at our dinner table is on her 14th World cruise! We hear from the cruise staff that many people use cruise ships as a retirement home. Apparently in some cases it’s cheaper. Hence, a majority of very senior citizens.
Also, there seems to be a lot of older men and younger women, affectionately dubbed “arm candy” by our new friend Francis.
I’ve had a brush with greatness!! Regis Philbin and his wife, Joy, are on the ship. They did a show for us one night and I saw them around the ship for a couple of days. Even had a little chat with Regis about the scale in the gym. Rumor has it they’ll get off in Panama.
Yesterday we spent the day in Costa Rica, docking in Puerta Limon. We’ve been to Costa Rica before but have never docked at this port. We had signed up for an Off-Road Adventure tour and were hoping it was going to be a good one. When we walked off the ship, there in front of us was a mega-Hummer type vehicle with giant tires. I crossed my fingers that it was ours and it was. Our guide was Eric and our driver was Jose and this was their homemade truck/tour bus. Island tour guides are often quite funny and these two didn’t disappoint us. We traveled mainly on dirt roads through the rain forest, stopped for a picnic of some local specialties, including Costa Rican beer and a local liquor called guavo (not to be confused with guano). I, of course, had some of each and was a little tipsy for the rest of the tour.
A few tidbits about Costa Rica: The animal of the day is the sloth. Sloths are the slowest-moving animals on the planet and they live in trees. They eat tender leaves from the trees and come down once a week to go to the bathroom. They cover up their excrement and go back up the tree. The most interesting thing about them is that after they eat they must have sun on their stomachs to absorb the proteins necessary for digestion. If they can’t get sun they will starve to death, even though they have a belly full of food.
Eric talked about the sales tax structure in Costa Rica and it is quite interesting. Sales tax on a car is 85% because the government doesn’t want the citizens to have cars. Public transportation is very good and very cheap. Taxes on luxuries like TVs, stereos, video games and other amusements are also very high, 65-80%. In a grocery store, taxes vary from 7% down to less than 1% according to what you buy, with staples like rice and beans being taxed the least. It’s an interesting concept.
He also talked about their illegal immigrant problem. Illegals come mostly from Nicaragua because the economy there is so bad and the government so corrupt. The Costa Ricans don’t want to do jobs like picking bananas and coffee beans so the aliens do the job. After two years they are given housing because it is illegal to be homeless in Costa Rica. Health care is also free. The Costa Ricans see this as a growing problem. Sound familiar?
Signing off for now. Suzanne and Ed.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
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Saturday, January 5, 2008
January 5, 2008 Ed's 52nd Birthday
Greetings from MS Amsterdam! To quote a famous American, “Today I consider myself the luckiest woman on the face of the Earth.” I’m seeing the world with the love of my life; 114 days of exploring new places, meeting new people, relaxation and intellectual stimulation.
This may be the most beautiful and sophisticated ship I’ve ever been on; it certainly is the newest. It has 2 pools, one with a retractable dome, a culinary arts theater with a kitchen to die for, a state of the art gym, a library with thousands of volumes, listening centers, computers; many bars, pianos, and dozens of nooks to sit and read or just contemplate life. Our room is larger than I expected: a king-size bed, full-size couch, dressing table, 4 closets and a good sized bath. We have an inside cabin but there’s a curtain over our bed with lights behind it, which gives the illusion of a window. A very clever design.
If you want to feel young again, take a World cruise. I think we are in the bottom 10% of the age group and I feel like a spring chicken. We’re at a dining table for 8 but only 4 others showed up last night; a couple in their 60’s from Rapid City, South Dakota and a couple in their 70’s from Tampa. They are all very well-traveled and have interesting stories to tell.
Right now I’m writing this from what we used to call the Promenade Deck but on this ship they call it the Walkaround. We’re cruising in 6700 feet of water, at 21 ½ knots. It’s a sunny 70 degrees and on the horizon is another cruise ship and the island of Cuba. Tomorrow is our first stop, Georgetown, Grand Cayman.
When I remember that I was dragged kicking and screaming onto my first cruise in 1984, I am completely amazed that I’m on my 25th or 26th cruise (I’ve lost count), four months in duration, going completely around the World. It still hasn’t really hit me yet.
This may be the most beautiful and sophisticated ship I’ve ever been on; it certainly is the newest. It has 2 pools, one with a retractable dome, a culinary arts theater with a kitchen to die for, a state of the art gym, a library with thousands of volumes, listening centers, computers; many bars, pianos, and dozens of nooks to sit and read or just contemplate life. Our room is larger than I expected: a king-size bed, full-size couch, dressing table, 4 closets and a good sized bath. We have an inside cabin but there’s a curtain over our bed with lights behind it, which gives the illusion of a window. A very clever design.
If you want to feel young again, take a World cruise. I think we are in the bottom 10% of the age group and I feel like a spring chicken. We’re at a dining table for 8 but only 4 others showed up last night; a couple in their 60’s from Rapid City, South Dakota and a couple in their 70’s from Tampa. They are all very well-traveled and have interesting stories to tell.
Right now I’m writing this from what we used to call the Promenade Deck but on this ship they call it the Walkaround. We’re cruising in 6700 feet of water, at 21 ½ knots. It’s a sunny 70 degrees and on the horizon is another cruise ship and the island of Cuba. Tomorrow is our first stop, Georgetown, Grand Cayman.
When I remember that I was dragged kicking and screaming onto my first cruise in 1984, I am completely amazed that I’m on my 25th or 26th cruise (I’ve lost count), four months in duration, going completely around the World. It still hasn’t really hit me yet.
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