This is our second visit to Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city – 1.5 million of their 4.5 million citizens live in this beautiful city on the country’s north island. Many times on a long cruise we are at the pier before we wake up and it is always interesting to see the locale for the […]
Read moreWhile we have been to New Zealand before, this is our first visit to the Bay of Islands, in the far north of the country. The bay is named for the 100 + islands which dot the sea inside the bay, and is perhaps the most historic place in the country. It was in this […]
Read moreThursday, February 5, at 6:30 am we began to catch sight of Samoa, under the most spectacular of full moons. By the time we reached the harbor at Apia, the capital of Samoa, the sun was up affording us a view of Samoa’s capital building, flanked by a hotel on the right, and the Immaculate […]
Read moreWhile we have crossed the date line several times (it still confuses me) and the Equator several times, this is the first time we crossed them both at the same time – lost a day and went from the northern hemisphere to the southern at the same time. All ships hold a ceremony when crossing […]
Read moreAs we sailed from Honolulu, we had a really nice dinner on the back deck with the lights of Honolulu receding in the background. We have a five day sail to Samoa, including crossing the International Date Line, which eliminates February 2. On previous cruises, since we were usually in a small inside cabin, I […]
Read moreAbout 6:30 in the morning, before the sun was up, we sailed between O’ahu and Moloka’I, and began to see the lights of Honolulu, with Diamondhead standing in dark contrast to the city lights. By the time we were nearing the port, the sun was just beginning to rise, affording us this view. On almost […]
Read moreTo some, five days at sea, with no ports and no land in sight might be boring. To me, it is the perfect way to start a long cruise – relaxing, exploring the ship, electronically disconnecting, and adjusting to life at sea. Nothing but sea and sky, for thousands of miles. While we do have […]
Read moreThe transition from the hotel was easy – eight pieces of luggage and the two of us. The Crown Plaza, San Pedro, proved to be an excellent pre-cruise hotel – good food and drinks – very reasonable prices, a huge room and a shuttle to the ship. We boarded with a minimum of waiting, found […]
Read moreOn our last trip, Barbara Martin was concerned that we were going out the same day we sailed. I told her not to worry, we had done it dozens of times and never missed a sailing. Due to aircraft problems, we almost missed it. This year we are going a day early and staying in a […]
Read more