Day 14-15-16, October 11-12-13

Friday, Oct 11: We were already docked when we woke up this morning. We watched ferries come and go and saw a local, small cruise ship enter port as well. Today our ship excursion included the following places, not necessarily in this order: Mara'a Fern Grotto, which was a pretty little stop. Vaipahi Gardens & Waterfall, which was my favorite spot with all the lovely flowers. Blowhole Arahoho, that was really just a "dry" blowhole to our surprise. It did make an interesting sound but all other ones we have been to shoot water into the air! Point Venus, which is Tahiti's northernmost extremity, Venus Point was the site from which Captain James Cook's astronomer tracked the transit of Venus across the sun in the 18th century, amazing to think about. The stately white lighthouse, which was built in 1868, was closed, not that we would have gone up that many steps. Tahara'a "One Tree Hill" where the old tree has long since disappeared, but the lookout remains and offers panoramic views of the Island of Moorea, the Sea of Moons and the surrounding coral reefs and lagoons. We saw lovely areas along the way. Our refreshment stop was at Gauguin Restaurant, where were were served your choice juice, soda, or bottled water. They had fish nets holding fish to view as well 

By the time we got back I was exhausted with over 10K steps on my Fitbit. Oddly enough my Fitbit had Anchorage AK time for multiple days, now it has French Polynesia time BUT it is 14 hours off. Once I get to Australia I will use my phone locally and be back at the right local time (I assume). Anyway, we had a quick bite at the grill and back to our cabin where I fell asleep. We missed the local dancers that came on board to perform a show for us. By the time I got up we were leaving Tahiti. It is a big island compared to Bora Bora but small compared to the Big Island of Hawaii. Hawaii is at least 15 times bigger than Tahiti. We had a beautiful sunset over Moorea as we departed Tahiti. Just a quick bite from the Horizon court buffet. Yes, we are actually getting weary of fancy food. I had chicken and broccoli for dinner! We did have a fancy drink today. We haven't finished the wine we embarked with yet either, though we brought a few bottles for dinner time. After posting 3 days of my blog we headed back to our cabin. Believe it or not, I still feel tired!

The Grotto 

Sunset over Moorea 

The Moon

Saturday, Oct 12: Today we spent the day recovering from yesterday! Seriously, we were tired so we slept in. I scrapbooked, we went to lunch, and then watched a movie. We did walk around a little bit but avoided the multiple sales on board. Lunch in the dining room and dinner at the Horizon Buffet. So yes, it was a quiet day. I expect the same for tomorrow. We enjoyed some Limoncello. 

Limoncello 

Sunday, Oct 13: Another lazy day at sea, which is actually quite nice. I am getting a bit of scrapbooking done (not as much as I thought) and we are having a good time relaxing. We secured a lounge by the pool to watch the morning movie "Under the Stars" and eventually a search for a towel was successful. Pool towels seem hard to come by. Watching Mama Mia was fun because I love the music. John was not keen to wait a couple hours for Mama Mia 2, he had enough warm weather.

Movie Under the Stars (Sun!)

Day 11-12-13, October 8-9-10

Tuesday, Oct 8: Somehow we were busy all day! It's Deb's BD and I tried all morning to get on WhatsApp to call her but it never worked. This morning there was a "Chat with the Captain" in the Theater followed by a short documentary on Captain Hook. Both were fascinating to attend. Finally the internet is up and we were able to call Deb!!! We had to rush a bit to get to our 12:15p wine tasting. Afterwards we had a quick bite at the International Café. Back to the cabin where John took a nap and I took my laptop down to the Internet Café/Library where the Wi-Fi does run a tiny bit faster. At least it is running now. It takes some time for the blog post photos to upload to the blog so I only post a few. Oddly enough they upload quite quickly to Facebook. By the time I was done there it was almost time for dinner! Feeling so full I suggested  we swim or something. Almost no one goes to the pools this time of night even though the weather is warm still. First we went to the hot tub on deck 16. It was pretty windy but nice just the same. John enjoyed the HOT water, me not so much. After that we went to the Terrace Pool which was much cooler, so cool John was not going to get in but he eventually did join me. The waves are really active in the pool and we thought of the many times this type of wave (or bigger) was created in the Gibson pool, fond memories. Back to the cabin and bedtime. Tomorrow we must prepare for our first port since Oahu!

Chat with the Captain  

Mushroom Quiche & Greek Salad for Lunch

Today when I was posting my blog the woman next to me got sad news of a death in her family. So sad for her I cried too. I gave her tissue and comforted her. So sad when one is away from home and loses loved ones, no family support around you. At least her husband was there too and seemed very attentive with his arm around her. I can't get her off of my mind…

We saw photos from home with the family celebrating Deb's BD. Feeling a bit homesick. The Family had this great Friends Cake for her, she is a big fan of Friends as we all know.

Other news from home is the house we bid on for Julie is back on the market. To bid again or not? It needs SO MUCH work but could be a nice little house for her. Deb is talking to Tamera and the family will collectively decide what to do.

Wednesday, Oct 9: Today we finally heard about tender tickets for Bora Bora tomorrow. I do hope we are able to make our tour with Viator on time tomorrow. Supposedly we meet on the dock at 9a. We are supposed to be in cleared by 8a, but we need a ticket for the tender and I suppose cruise ship tours will be a priority. We shall see. I would assume that others taking this tour will have the same time constraints and it will work out, if not - that's the way it goes. We spent a very relaxing day as I scrapbooked most of the day. John brought us up something from the International Café for lunch and we went to dinner early. We are all set for tomorrow!

Night Sky

 

Thursday, Oct 10: Bora Bora!!! We were up and out early so we could pick up a tender ticket and be ashore by 9a for our excursion. This is the only excursion I booked outside of the ship but when I did it, I did not realize we were tendered. What a mad house to secure a ticket, a real mob scene. Too bad they didn't do it the day before like I have seen in the past. Anyway, we were on the tender and to the pier before 9a so it all worked out. Unfortunately, we sat there for an hour in the 4X4 vehicle waiting to leave. We were never sure why we were waiting, but we saw the cruise ship excursion with the same company leave before we did. This is a Circle Island tour, there is one road around the island and it is 20 miles in distance. Once we got going we had a good time. We went up 3 "private" roads to see views and WWII remains of cannons. The first road was pretty steep with most of it on blacktop. We saw stunning views on one side and walking 20 ft over stunning views on the other side. I have never seen such amazing waters. Every shade of vibrant blue you can think of. A barrier reef surrounds the island with the only inlet being where the US dredged through the reef during WWII to bring munitions in. No attack ever came here. We have 3 4X4 vehicles in our little group and a commentator telling us what we are looking at for each stop. On to the second stop and the "road" was less paved, mostly dirt and lava rock, and much steeper than the last one. It made me nervous when the tires skid. The vehicle in front of us stopped  on the steepest incline, for an unknown reason, and so we were stopped to. It felt to me like we might slide down the mountain, but all was well. After this we stopped a Matira Beach. There was some explanation about it being the only public beach but then he also said we could go to any beach on the island, so that is unclear. I will need to look that up. Sparkling white sand and pristine water. I enjoyed putting my feet in! Now on to our 3rd and final hill climb. I will not say it was a road because I know it was at one time but it really doesn't resemble a road anymore. I saw the vehicle in front struggling over the large rocks and sinking in the gullies. When one tire raises a foot or more off the ground, it is a bit off-putting for me! But once again we  made it. This stop was the remnants of cannons from WWII. On we go around the island, we had the typical shopping stop where we were given delicious fresh fruit and coconut. Oddly enough, no drinks for sale. It is pretty warm and they would make a fortune selling cold soda or beer I am sure. Our 3.5 hour tour was over and we were dropped off at the pier. We walked around for a little bit but it was hot and we decided to go back to the ship, have lunch, and go for a swim. We really enjoyed that and switched from a lounge to a table near the pool and played cards the rest of the afternoon until it was time to set sail. What a gorgeous island this is. Neither of us are hungry for dinner but we took a look at the buffet and it was "Mexican Night" so I had a taco with great guacamole. John had a variety plate, a little of everything. Tomorrow we will be in Tahiti!

Bora Bora Map

Matira Beach

 

Good-Bye Beautiful Bora Bora

Day 8-9-10, October 5-6-7

Saturday, Oct 5: We did just as planned today - Relaxed, read, scrapbooked, ate, walked, enjoyed live music, etc. Today they collected our passports and they will hold them until Oct. 12. They collected both our New Zealand Visas and Australian Visas the day we boarded. A very relaxing day as we make our way to Bora Bora.

Provolone Tower of Pisa

Moon On South Pacific

Sunday, Oct 6: Today was almost a repeat of yesterday but we woke to a lovely rainbow. We did all the things we did yesterday, plus an extra "Movie Under the Stars" - they even put cushions on the lounges and it's warm out this evening.  Check out the cello, I bet Miranda would like one like that!

Morning Rainbow 

Electric Cello

Movie cushion Lounges

Monday, Oct 7: Clear skies this morning, more movement on the ship because we are going faster (I think).There are tons of lectures and other events today but we didn't go to any of them. We tried but the truth is this ship is very crowded, or seems so. The public places are not well-planned. They have interesting events in the Piazza but it is such a tiny area it is quite oppressive to even get in there. Recalling the RC Harmony with 6K passengers didn't seem at all crowded. I guess having a more modern design helps a lot.  I wanted to get busy on my England album, maybe tomorrow. Meanwhile, I am keeping current on my cruise album!  It was formal night, no lobster and we even got dressed up this time! Hahaha They did have a nice palate cleanser of strawberry sorbet, which was a nice touch. The food has been very good for the most part. Tonight was a production show. We were determined to make it this time. We went an hour early, 45 minutes before the show it was full. Since this is an older crowd, you would think they would adjust the timing. Have the early show at the first traditional dinner time and the second at the second. Having the second show at 9:45p doesn't work out, people grumble. After the long wait to see the show it was disappointing. A sort of techo show with only a couple songs we recognized. The talent level seemed "high school-like" at best.  I will say the itinerary, food, and lectures we have gone to are very good. 

Fruit Carving

 

Strawberry Sorbet 

Day 7, October 4

Friday, Oct 4: Good Morning Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii. We have a great view of Diamond Head from our Balcony this morning. Aloha! Welcome to Oahu, our second day in Hawai'i. We have seen most everything on the island before. So this time we are vising the Bishop Museum, which has the largest collection of Hawaii and Pacific area artifacts in the world. It really was fantastic if you have not seen it. We got one of the many taxis at the port. Unfortunately, I don't think he was very honest as we went in a huge circle, then on the freeway and finally to the museum. He was not happy that he got a very small tip but it was justified because our trip from the museum back to the ship was about half the charge. Anyway, the museum was amazing and well worth the reasonable price to visit. We had a brief introductory tour when we arrived (20-25 minutes) and then we saw the rest on our own. The main building is constructed of lava stone that was shaped by hand, the Koa wood is used for the woodwork and the hardware and tile are still original. This is just an amazing structure on its own. There is also a planetarium on the grounds and our all-inclusive ticket includes all of those show. We saw 3 of the 5 presentations. I love going to a planetarium even though I can never remember where the specific stars are when I look into the sky, it is still fascinating to me. There was a comprehensive gift shop, if only we had room to bring things home! The charming young woman called us a taxi for our return trip to the ship.

The Bishop Museum

Bishop Museum,  Kaneikokala discovered in Hawaii 1905

 Bishop Museum canoe

 Bishop Museum, Feather towers of Royalty

 We made the mistaken assumption that we could get one of the free shuttles into town after our return from the museum. We were wrong, most  of the shuttles have stopped running so a taxi is now the only option, or the bus. We opted out of lunch at the  museum so we just decided to eat on the ship at this point. We grabbed a quick burger, didn't even go to our cabin, and headed out again. This time we are looking for Wal-Mart or an ABC Store. It is hard to believe I haven't seen one yet but I am told they are down in the Waikiki area. This time we had a great taxi driver. Be sure you call Andy at 808-636-0065, when you are in Honolulu or Waikiki, he was the best! He told us Wal-Mart was our best bet and closer AND he waited (without the meter running) for us!!! What a great guy. I'm saving his number in case we are ever back in Oahu. Native born, married to a native born as well. Now back to the ship with our minimal purchases.

Tonight's dinner was delicious. I have seen the Curtis Stone menu items and tonight I tried it - absolutely delicious. Then for dessert I had the Chocolate Journeys, which I have only seen on our cabin TV, decadent! 

Curtis Stone Menu item, fabulous!

Chocolate Journeys Coconut Mousse with dark Chocolate Cream and Crunchy Roasted

After dinner we walked about the ship to enjoy what we could see from the upper decks. Back to our cabin and we realized we were missing the Aloha show so we rushed to that seeing the last 3 performances. Now back in our cabin we see the fireworks going off at the Hilton Waikiki! So it has been a busy and full day. We still have a few hours before sailing but we are exhausted and may not still be awake for our 11p sailing - off to Bora Bora, 5 days at see before arriving. I'll post when possible!!!

Aloha Show On Board

Hilton Fireworks

Bora Bora - Here we come!!!

Day 4-5-6, October 1-2-3

Tuesday, Oct 1: Our clocks got turned back another hour last night so we are still managing to get up by 7-7:30a! It was a very quiet day for us. Lunch in the dining room with abrasive folks. Why can't people recall that no one wants to hear their political opinions? So at dinner we requested a table for 2! The internet was down most of the day. I did manage to get online with my phone for a bit. My critique for dining is "lunch is unimpressive but dinners have been delightful and delicious. There are a lot of nice choices in the buffet called Horizon Court"- now off to bed! (our day was sedate because I spent most of the time icing my knee…the back of my knee. Not sure what I did? Perhaps too many stairs yesterday? 

Wednesday, Oct 2: Knee is better.Today it is quite stormy looking outside but the temperature is pleasant, even on the warm side. I can see rain in the distance and imagine we will experience some today. Our cabin steward Laurence insists on cleaning our cabin today. He says it is 5 days with no bed change and it needs it. I guess he would be stunned to know I wait 7-10 days to wash our sheets at home! Really looking forward to Hilo tomorrow so I can use my own Hotspot and contact Forever.

Breakfast in the dining room, then to a talk on Oahu, and on to Fish Hook necklace making for me. Then John and I met at the Wine Tasting event. Met a charming woman from London and enjoyed talking about our Summer experiences there. She told us about a Gin Festival, which we will be looking into next August! We enjoyed our wine tasting companions (London, Florida, Canada)! 

Of course the best was Caymus

We were going to go to a short Luau presentation but John fell asleep, so next we were off to dinner. Following that we called Julie on WhatsApp then listened to Hawaiian music and played cards in the Atrium. We headed  off to the show 30 minutes early to be sure we got a seat. That was not meant to be, totally packed. We won't wait up for the 9:45p show. Too bad. 

October 3: Hilo, Hawaii! Our very first port day! We didn't rush off the ship because we have seen everything there was a tour for so we decided to walk around old town Hilo. We took a taxi into town ($12) because the free shuttle was a 45 minute wait. Lovely little town, we were dropped off at the Farmers Market and took a look there. We looked in some cute shops, took note of some historic buildings, and then stopped at a café called Cronies for a drink and lunch. Reasonable prices and delicious food. We had a seat right by the window with Hilo Bay as our view. Our table was right next to a man and his mom of 90. She was a hoot. We had a nice visit, he lives in San Jose, born in Visalia and she lives in  the lovely little town of Murphys. My friend June and I have gone wine tasting there. The mom said they have one stop light and 41 wineries! Back to the ship we shared a taxi with them. However, when we got back John realized he left his backpack at the restaurant. So I called them to be sure they still had it and yes, they did. Another round trip and we are back at the ship. Sail away was 5p. We are not hungry so we ordered a snack from room service. Onward to Oahu tomorrow!

John and 1932 (souped up) Chevy

Palace Theater Build in 1925

Tsunami Museum, Built in 1930, survived both the 1946 & 1960 tsunamis!

Carving out front really caught my eye.

  

Day 1-2-3, September 28-29-30

No photos, takes too long to upload - I'll post some in Hawaii

Saturday, Sept 28: Train/bus trip was uneventful and relaxing. We played cards part of the way since we had a table on the train. We could have walked back to the ship at Pier 27 from our drop off point of Pier 39 but opted for a taxi ($7.50+tip). I don't want to press myself after the recent back injection and anyway I was more than my 10K steps by the end of the day. However, if I can't get the internet working my steps won't sync anyway!

So back to arrival in SF.  Our taxi dropped us at the door where our large bag was whisked away by the porter and we were in the short line for passport check immediately. From there it was to the "Platinum" check in (which was longer than the standard line) which went very quickly. At security we chatted with a couple who have a great day planned. The flew in from AU 4 days ago and explored SF. Nice to hear they thought it was lovely. Their BIL & SIL are on the ship already and sailed from Vancouver. They don't know they are coming and it is a big surprise. How fun to share in their excitement! Since it was still before  noon we took a seat and waited to board, which we were called for right at 12p as promised. We weren't sure if our cabin would be ready but it was so we unpacked our carryons and asked for ice that came immediately. We had a quick toast with a couple sips of our wine from water glasses and by then our big suitcase was outside our door. We took care of that and headed to the dining room for lunch since it was only open until 1:30p. Since I was starved my salad and lunch sized serving of ravioli could have been larger, but it was very good. John had soup of the day, a burger, and dessert. Now we are off to explore a little bit more of the ship.

First we checked the dinner menu to see if we will opt out or not. Yes, there is  prime rib so we are "in" for sure.  We covered decks 5-15 today, both forward and aft. I can't say I know my way around just yet but it is becoming familiar. We straggled along to Muster, which is different for us, so it didn't seem to take long at all. We have been warned the weather will be windy as we leave SF (no surprises) and through the night. Surprisingly, all the deck lounges have now been stacked up and tied down. Where shall we go for sail away? We opted for the Terrace pool at the  aft of the ship. There are tables and chairs there plus a stationary bar that has a good view. We have been under the Golden Gate before but no matter, it is always a thrill for me. We happen to sit by a nice young couple (50's young to us) from Melbourne. I love Aussies, they are so fun and friendly. We  had a great chat. They just flew in last night. They wanted me to  point out various things and that was fun to reminisce about the past and different locations. Finally it is time, the ship is  setting sail. The wind has picked up and John's fancy drink blew away! No wonder they only serve plastic glasses outside. It is quite cool and the wind is challenging but personally I loved it! Met up with another guy who was friendly. He is from Fairfield, born in Fresno. Vietnam Vet so he and John had a lot to talk about. I must say you meet interesting and nice people on a cruise. I took lots of photos and soon the Golden Gate was on our six and we headed to our appointed dining room.

We have Anytime Dining. Surprisingly, even without a reservation we were seated quickly. It is 7p and we don't really like to eat so late, so we will come earlier on future days. We didn't want to miss the Golden Gate, so that just how it worked out today. We had a table for 6 and a decent visit with the other two couples. Only one of them has been to AU but they certainly have traveled a lot and it is nice to hear about other's adventures.

We went directly to our cabin after dinner. We  are tired after getting up at 4:45a this morning. We are rockin' & rollin' but it doesn't matter since we just watched a little TV and fell asleep.

Maybe we have been on this ship before - OR one just like it when we cruised with Julie, our friend June and her son Jason. We were aft and on this same deck by the Terrace Pool. I'll have to look it up went I get home.

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Sunday, Sep 29: We ordered coffee delivered at 7:30a and it came with a friendly smile and on time. Happy to say it is decent coffee and they do give real cream, no the little packets with years of shelf life.  I tried to get on the internet and only got "this page is unavailable" both on my phone and my laptop, so I will try that later. Off to the Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle.

Even though it is a bit rough, we noticed on the way that deck lounges are set up  and the pools are refilled. While 4 ships officers attended the Meet & Mingle, there was nothing there to eat or drink, not even coffee or water. There was a bar in the Skywalkers Nightclub but no one managing it. I certainly didn't want a drink but water, sparkling water, or something would  have been nice. Each officer gave a little spiel and they were friendly, answering lots of questions. No games, no prizes, no nada. Certainly one of the least impressive M&M I have been to. No worries really, I was just surprised.

There are several things to do on board: Lectures on Hawaii and DNA, lei making, necklace making, trivia, book club, ping-pong, fruit carving, and the list goes on. I am happy to see there are lectures as that is the type of thing I like to do. I would have gone to the necklace or lei making but it was too late after the M&M. I worked on photos and such and John read until lunch. We headed to the dining room but nothing on the menu looked too exciting to us so we went to the buffet at Horizon Court. There were a lot of nice choices, roasted vegetables and some deliciously seasoned chicken were our choices. We got help, which took about 1 minute, to set up my phone for Wi-Fi but we were  told it  is best in the open areas and not so good in our cabin. So to post the blog I will need to take my laptop somewhere for good reception, I never got to it today.

We attempted to make a  reservation for 2 tonight, apparently you can only make a reservation if you want to share a table. If you want a table for 2 you wait in a line. When we got there a bit after 5 there was no line and we were seated immediately. After dinner we went to the Vista Lounge to watch a tribute group called Beatleswannbe. Interesting little group and we did enjoy the  music, though I think the fellow passengers dancing was almost more entertaining.

__________

Monday, Sep 30: Gentle seas, 70F, what more could we ask for? Well, there is the food and the views from our balcony. So relaxing, we are having a nice and restful time. At noon we are 900 and some miles from SF, still the closest land. Traveling on an average of 22 MPH with the deepest dark blue sea you will ever see. It was a disappointing scrapbook day for me as my England album is now corrupted. I have never had that happen before, of course I cannot call Forever Support until I reach Hawaii. I spent hours working on trying to fix it to no avail. Tomorrow is a new day. I did post the blog and managed to look on FB to see that other Artisan users are indeed having the same issues I am having. I should have waited to do my update but I have never had an issue with an update before. Tonight we went to the "Happy Hour" for Platinum and above. Apparently Princess used to offer free happy hour as well, before we got t o Platinum. Some cruisers complained that they "took it away" so this is what we have instead. You can buy a cocktail for $6.50 instead of the regular price, which is anywhere from $7.50-$14.00, most right around $10. They also have an assortment of appetizers, which was comparable to Celebrity or Royal Caribbean. However, with the afore mentioned, you have free drinks in the special lounge or 3 free drinks on your cruise card for your use between certain hours. Everyplace is different. We had a lemon drop Martini, not sure we'll go back but maybe. The spread was nice. I noticed a lot of people were dressed formally, John insisted tonight was smart casual. Well, it isn't. We looked at the menu and decide we will skip dinner tonight, no lobster on the menu only leg of lamb and crab quiche appetizer that appealed to us but we are full now after the happy hour. Captain's welcome is tonight as well, we will try for that and our glass of champagne! Almost halfway to Hawaii!

10 Days!!!

We leave in 10 days! I can hardly believe it! We booked this so long ago it doesn't even seem "real" now - BUT it is! Time to start packing!!! San Francisco, California, USA to Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Here we come, with stops along the way!

Sydney is 17 Hours Ahead of California