WCB

Report #5 Wednesday January 3, 2023 Embarkation Day On The Zuiderdam For The 2024 World Cruise Partly Cloudy With Periods Of Sun 52-65 Degrees Part #1 Of 1........35 Pictures Embarkation day is always a most busy one. The first job was dropping off our duffel in the ballroom so it could be brought to the pier. Before the fun and games began, we enjoyed another early morning breakfast at Joe’s Café. No waiting to be seated, we were invited to take any booth we wished. Being here for the third day in a row, we were already part of their family. Good food and hot coffee, what more could you want? Before leaving the shopping center, we tried Ace Hardware to look for the little hand sanitizer, and found just what we wanted. Job done, we headed back to the hotel. We needed the rest of our hand carrys to be filled, then we went down to the lobby to meet with our group at 10:15am. They had two coaches for the sixty of us, although some of our friends “Ubered” to the port to be among the first to board. We were in no hurry, since there was no guarantee our room on the ship would be ready. The coach ride took all of 10 minutes. The driver got us close to the entrance, where we informed the greeter that we were President’s Club members when she asked. With a big smile she directed us to a line that took us to an area where we filled out a form regarding our not-yet-granted Brazilian visa. We were told that there were Brazilian reps onboard to assist folks like us in getting our visas quicker. So far, it is 9:30pm, and we have yet to hear from anyone regarding further info. The good news is that we were not denied boarding, as had been suggested by HAL. There is still a possibility that we might not be able to leave the ship while in Brazil, but that is still a week or more away. At least we are not sitting on the pier twiddling our thumbs while watching the ship leave Port Everglades. After having our passports scanned, and our photos taken, we were personally greeted by Maja, the nicest guest relations manager we met last year. She led us around the check-in desk, and made sure we had our boarding passes with the skew on them. Handing off our passports for safe-keeping, we were handed receipts to retrieve them later. Maja informed us that the yellow fever requirement had been lifted by Devils Island and Brazil as well for this cruise. In addition, we were not asked to produce our China and India visas at this point. From there, we went up the escalator to the second level. Finding an area not occupied with a lot of waiting people (Pinnacle and Neptune suite and the few President’s Club members, we were offered ice water or lemonade and fresh cookies. Dining room Matre’d Presty spotted us and came over for a chat. We asked if our table # 66 was assigned, and he said he figured we would keep our table from last year. No, we thought we had made that perfectly clear, and we followed up with confirmation from ship services when we got home last spring. We could tell from the look on his face, there was a problem. Pulling out his cell phone, he made some inquiries and said he would get back to us on that. He never did, but we trusted he would clear up the confusion before dinnertime. At least, the wait was short, and starting with the first row of seats, we were invited to board. We did not notice if the photographers were there, so the process was quick. The cruise director, Kimberly, Captain Frank Van der Hoven, and Henk Mensink, the Hotel Manager greeted us as we entered. Both of us got handshakes and hugs. On the way to the gangway, we were handed new logo pins for the Zuiderdam as well as a welcome card from the Captain. Boarding was as easy as showing our boarding passes. Michele, the Mariner Manager, greeted us and led us to the side elevator. She said our room was ready, and that was exactly where we headed to unload our heavy hand bags. We were grateful to see our new room with the extra corner space. This Signature Suite will work just fine. On the coffee table, we had two open-face sandwiches and a tray of fancy desserts. Our bed was filled with gift cards and letters along with the daily program. Not all of our amenities had been delivered, but a letter was there saying they would arrive within 5 days. Two bottles of sparkling wine were on ice. There was no Mariner lunch in the dining room, but there was a welcome aboard “champagne” lunch in the Lido until 4pm. Our luggage began arriving one piece at a time, and we did open the first few. Then we headed for the Lido pool area, but got side-tracked by so many folks we knew. Some were regulars and some we had not seen since 2020. Such a nice reunion. We never did make it to lunch in the Lido, but ended up dining on the fancy food in our room. More luggage arrived, but it was time for the muster check-in on deck three. We went right on down, and completed that job within minutes. So easy these days, all we had to do was run the muster drill on our TV, and we were set. While stashing our stuff, we had a phone call asking us to come down to deck A to have a bag check. It was there we ran into Shiv, the best-ever Head of Housekeeping. He also gives the best bear hugs. Opening the duffel, we showed security a large can of peanuts and the ice thermos we had brought to serve as our ice bucket. That was all they needed to see, and we were free to go, hauling the duffel with us. They would have delivered it, but we said no thanks. We did stop unpacking long enough to go to the Seaview Pool deck to the advertised Sail Away Celebration at 4:30pm. It did not happen, the actual sail away or the party. It had been delayed until later in the evening due to last minute deliveries and perhaps late-arriving guests. The ship still had not moved by 7:30pm. We never leave on time here on a long cruise. So, we did see our table we had reserved, but got into conversations with longtime fellow cruisers. Should we check at the desk first, or just sit down? Well, the head waiter came and said there was a problem, and our table was not available this evening. He called Presty, who showed up and promised he would clear up the confusion tomorrow, so in the meantime, we sat at a different table. We offered to bring our confirmation from last summer for this table, but he said no, it wasn’t necessary. Our waiters at this table on the railing were very nice and our food was excellent. Champagne was brought with compliments from Presty. Not the end of the world, we did not see this switch coming. Expect the unexpected, right? And a lovely single stem red rose was handed out to all of the ladies this evening. Nice touch. By the way, the Zuiderdam left the port during dinnertime without any fanfare that we could see. Visiting with more long-time friends we were glad to turn in after 9pm. It had been another marathon day, and we will deal with the mountain of clothes on the couch tomorrow. Stay tuned…… Bill & Mary Ann

Report #4 Tuesday January 2, 2024 Fort Lauderdale, Florida Shopping And Some Pool Time As Well As Attending A Bon Voyage Dinner And Party Partly Cloudy With Sun 52-73 Degrees Part #1 Of 1........23 Pictures Another nice day in Ft. Lauderdale, we spent it enjoying French toast and an omelet at our favorite little café at Harbor Shops. A nice touch is that their coffee is free from 6:30 to 9am weekdays, and we had our fill of it. We followed up with some grocery store shopping at Publix, finding a few room snacks as well as a couple of items we forgot. We searched for a pocket-sized hand sanitizer, but all of it was sold out. We do have at least 10 of them at home, but we forgot all but one. We would search for that item later in the afternoon. Today was the meeting day with our travel agency folks and our most wonderful travel agent. Some tables had been set up outside one of the ballrooms where excess luggage could be stored. Chatting with the head honcho and his three top agents, we also greeted our hosts, Luisa and Gene. They have hosted the world voyage for several years now, and have gotten to know us all quite well. Medium-sized back packs were handed out complete with logo windbreakers inside. Personalized diaries were available to take along with some flyers from the agency. We were pleased to see our photo from last year in one of them along with some of the other longtime customers. Printed directions for tomorrow were included, so we are all on the same page. We will need to bring our one piece of luggage down to the ballroom, and it will be brought over to the ship. The next time we see the duffel, it will be in our room. Two buses will take us and our hand carrys to the cruise terminal with an arrival time of 11am. Easy peasy….. Today the weather was mostly cloudy, but by the afternoon, the sun did come out. Lunch was light and at Duffy’s. From there we did take another walk to the Dollar Tree, finding several cruisers we knew shopping there. We searched for the hand sanitizer and came up zero, but did find a few bargains with thank you notes, a spiral binder, a notepad, and a pen holder. Our friend Ginni was shopping for Valentine’s and St. Patrick’s Day dinner table gifts. Never thought of that, but being a seasoned cruiser, she and friend Leslie (wish you and dh were both here) have become professional worldwide shoppers. Back at the hotel, other guests were gathering to leave to join the Disney ship. There may have been another cruise ship in port, because we saw it leaving out of Port Everglades when we left for lunch. Checking out the pool area from our window, we saw several lounges empty. So we went down for some relaxation in the warm sun, which was shared with one very young green iguana. Spending an hour there, we realized the clouds had returned as did some wind, and it actually got chilly. Oh well, time to get ready for dinner. Our group met in the lobby at 5:15pm sharp, then we were led to the nearby Boatyard Restaurant, built right on the waterway. Known for their seafood, there were more choices tonight. We went directly to the back room where tables for six were set for our group only. Somehow we always seem to come in towards the end of the line, so we took chairs at Tom and Deann’s table…same as last year. A nice couple from South Carolina joined us. Perfect. What we liked most about this format was that we bypassed the usual cocktail and canapy table and waiting at a bar to get drinks. Seated at the tables, we were served a platter of crispy fried calamari and zucchini slices. Those who love calamari loved it, but there was also a platter with sweet tomatoes and mozzarella salad with sourdough bread croutons drizzled with a balsamic dressing. While we were getting started with the food, Tom invited all of us to order a cocktail, wine or soda. A double Jack and a diet Coke were our choices. The second course was a chilled Caesar salad, followed by our choice of oak grilled flat iron steak, Greek roasted chicken, or pan roasted Scottish salmon – all served with veggies, potatoes or rice. We chose the steak cooked medium and it was delicious. We did save room for a slice of their famous creamy Key Lime pie with berries on the side, or an apple crostada with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. Full to the brim, we all left the restaurant by 7:30pm, thanking our hosts on the way out. Great job guys. Expecting a busy day tomorrow, we headed to bed earlier than usual. We still are not accustomed to Eastern time, which will take a few more days. And perhaps the mystery of going to Brazil or not, will be solved tomorrow. The drama continues…… Bill & Mary Ann

Report #3 Monday January 1, 2024 New Years Day Fort Lauderdale, Florida Sunny With A Few Clouds 52-73 Degrees A Walk To The Beach And Beyond Part #1 Of 1........83 Pictures Well, today was another long one. Not a lazy first day of January 2024. The festivities of the New Year’s fireworks definitely stole a good night’s sleep from us last evening. The fireworks in all parts of the town began shortly after sunset, increased as you might expect, closer to midnight, then continued for an hour. One most disturbing thing occurred around 10:30pm, when it sounded like a car blew up in front of this hotel. One other guest made a comment to us about it this morning as we all waited for the elusive elevator. Did we mention there was a problem with one of the elevators? It had broken down a few days ago, and it had not been repaired. We were allowed to use the service elevator which was located near the lobby. If repairs are not completed before January 3rd, there may be a problem checking out of this hotel. For those who may have mobility problems and difficulty getting luggage down from the upper floors, hotel help would be provided. Hope the elevator is repaired….. So off we went to Joe’s Café, a short walk to the Harbor Shops up the road a piece. This small cozy café is opened early, but closed at 3pm, much like Country Waffles is where we live. It’s one of those rare places where everyone knows everyone. And the food, coffee and service are excellent. The hotel does have a breakfast buffet, but we are not fond of them, even on the ship. And besides, the walk did us good. As the day developed, we ended up getting more than we expected with the walking. By the way, this mini mall has Publix, Total Wine, TJMAXX, Ace Hardware, banks, and Duffy’s Bar & Grill. We have a little shopping to do, but we decided to save it for Tuesday. Before noontime after catching up on news and weather on TV, we headed out again and walked over the 17th Street Bridge, where we watched the bridge open up for vessel traffic below. Always fun to witness. Maybe not for the cars that have to stop for 5 to 10 minutes. Our destination was the Ft. Lauderdale Beach and the Las Olas area. The weather here was next to perfect with blue skies, few clouds, and temps in the low 70’s. No rain, humidity, or wind. For us it was perfect walking weather. Taking our time, we made it to the strip of hotels and restaurants that face the white sandy beach dotted with many palm trees. One of us did make a mistake, and forgot to bring a bottle of water. It doesn’t have to be hot to get dehydrated. So there were several small shops that sold water and sodas along the way. We made it almost to Sunrise Blvd, then decided to turn back and find a place for lunch. By 1pm, this whole area became quite busy with late-risers who were crowding every food eatery. We kept to the original plan, and went back to Bubba Gumps for sodas and beer with a shared appetizer of fried chicken and pickle slices. The pickle slices were a real treat. Relaxing for an hour was even better. We guess that about every single person that passed us along the way, said Happy New Year. They are most friendly here, even the kids. Crossing the E. Shaw Jr. Bridge again, we stayed and watched two sessions with the raising and lowering of the highway. We never saw so many pleasure boats out and about today, but then it was a holiday. Finally, one of us got some photos and spent some time sizing and sorting in the room before heading out to dinner. The sun had set with a beautiful orange display on the western horizon. Pictures would not have been good, since the windows in our room were rather soiled. Certainly, we will capture many more sunsets in the days to come. By 6pm, we headed off for a light dinner, but this time went to Carrabba’s Italian Grill & Bar. Our first time there, we had checked out their website, and decided they had fresh pizza as well as a variety of Italian dishes. Salad and pizza sounded good. But it was not exactly to be. The place was about full of seated guests, and even more folks lined up for “take-away”. We were seated within ten minutes, placed our order, and got some sliced bread with a tapenade with mixed olive oil. Caesar salads (dinner size) were brought within minutes and they were ice cold and delicious. For our main entrée, we decided to share meatballs and spaghetti, which we thought would be following the salads. Well, they had not anticipated the amount of take-away orders, so the folks in the restaurant were put on hold while bag after bag of container food was taken out the door. It was almost an hour waiting, when we told the waitress, we could not wait much longer. One of us was falling asleep. By magic, the heaping bowl of spaghetti with three meatballs arrived to the table. We were glad we had waited because it was excellent and more than enough for both of us. And besides that, our waitress had brought three rounds of sliced bread while we waited. Totally full, we left the restaurant by 8pm, and headed right back to our nearby hotel. Expect to sleep well tonight. Tomorrow will be an evening hosted by our travel agency with the CEO and his wife, three top agents (including ours), and 4 hosts. Should be fun. Bill & Mary Ann

Report #2 Sunday December 31, 2023 Happy New Years Eve Long Day Traveling From San Francisco To Fort Lauderdale Sunny With Blue Skies 50-68 Degrees Part #1 Of 1........0 Pictures A long day traveling just about sums it up for New Years Eve. Most cross-country flights that are straight through leave early in the morning, and that’s why we had to be picked up by our trusty driver at 3am. These days, we are used to waking up at all times during the night anyway, so this early start was not a big deal. There was very little traffic since it was a Sunday as well as part of the holiday vacation time for many. And it is nice to see the night lights crossing the Bay Bridge as well as the festive decorations at the San Francisco airport. We arrived to SFO by 4am, checked in at the United kiosk, turned in one piece of luggage, and headed for the security check. For the most part, we would say there were about 80 passengers milling around the United area. The security line went quickly, and not having to take our shoes off was a good thing. One of us had to take off a vest, and place it in a tub, which unseen by us, someone had dumped their belongings right on top of it. After going through the xray unit, one of us waited and waited for the vest, but never saw it. Turned out it was at the far end after the people took their things and left. That was probably the biggest event of the day. Relaxing in a quiet section of the terminal, we waited for Yankee Pier Restaurant to open at 5:45am. The hot coffee sure tasted good as did the shared bacon/sausage egg scramble. The restaurant filled within a half hour, but we continued to enjoy the coffee for a while. The flight left on time, and it was fairly smooth flying as the plane dipped south and followed the southern route all the way to Ft. Lauderdale. There were a few patches of turbulence, but not enough to distract us from the TV programs we were watching. On our last two flights, the screens or ear pieces were not working, so with this longer flight, we were happy they did. Our big snack was a beverage and a choice of a bag of chocolate-coated quinoa or salted pub mix. Better than nothing we assume. Very few folks had ordered an airline meal. We landed over a half hour early shortly after 4pm, but had to wait for the terminal to open up. The weather was in our favor since there were blue skies and temperatures in the high 60’s. No rain and little humidity. Hope it lasts. Outside the baggage area, a lady driver approached us with a $60 deal for the 15 minute ride to the hotel. We sure did not remember prices like that the last time we flew here. We questioned it, and she claimed every driver was the same price. Saying thanks, but no thanks, we found an Uber driver for half of that plus tip. Pays to question things sometimes. The lobby of the Renaissance Marina Hotel was not busy, but it sure was decorated nicely for the holidays. While waiting in a line to check in, here came friends Martha and Bob on their way to dinner already. We had forgotten that tonight is New Years Eve, and most restaurants might be booked solid. We chatted briefly and promised to catch up in the next couple of days. We learned that the hotel was booked solid as well, and they had a hard time getting us our room for a three night stay. It turned out great with a room on the eighth floor with windows on two sides. It will be fun watching fireworks this evening if we can stay awake that long. Actually, they began to go off as soon as it got dark. Taking our usual walk to Duffy’s at a nearby mall, we enjoyed Sunday night football on dozens of screens with dozens of fans cheering. The burger and salad were just right. Many people were out and about walking the street and doing the same as us. There is a slew of eateries along this main corridor. Back at the hotel, we ran into another longtime friend Karen. We all commiserated over those darn Brazilian visas. At least she had gotten hers….we are still waiting. Stashing the little bit of stuff we brought with us, we did see that we did forget a few things. We will have two days to shop for the missing items. For now, we are tired, and hope to sleep the entire night…..straight through. Bill & Mary Ann

Greetings fellow readers, Many thanks for all the wonderful comments! Funny, at this point of time, we are wondering why we did not choose the New Zealand/Australia Grand Voyage. Sure would have been much less complicated. We will be on deck six, portside in a Signature Suite. Although we have sailed in a veranda on deck five aft, we found the room and veranda very comfortable and roomy. Happy New Year to all, and stay tuned..... Bill & Mary Ann PS Still waiting for that Brazilian visa......

Report # 1 Saturday December 30, 2023 Getting Ready To Embark On Another World Cruise Rain Showers With Some Sun In Our Part Of The World 48-65 Degrees....... Part 1 Of 1..........0 Pictures Well, the time of year has come when we are ready to embark on another long adventure around the world on HAL’s Zuiderdam. The original plan for this cruise was a trek up the Amazon River, back through the Caribbean, then transiting the Panama Canal. But wait, we learned that the water level in both the Amazon and the Panama Canal were at record lows. A few other cruise ships cancelled their transits to both areas. In hindsight, perhaps we would not have found us between a rock and a hard spot trying to get Brazilian visas, which were sprung upon us USA, Canadian, and Australian citizens at the last minute. Good grief…..it has turned out to be a most stressful time for all waiting to see a final approval check waiting for us on the computer every morning . As for us? We are still waiting. The way we read HAL’s communication, if we do not get approved before we get there, we will have to stay onboard the ship. There still is a possibility that Brazil could be taken off of the itinerary. Oh boy, are we off to a good start or what? With one stop in Costa Rica and one in Mexico, we will head towards Hawaii with three ports there. Then it is off to Guam, Saipan, and several visits to Japan cities. We are looking forward to this part of the cruise, since it has been many years since we have been in this area. Then we get to China. Or do we get to China? Political and health situations there have made these stops in China iffy at best. Then there was a question about visas and whether the ten year ones we have were going to be valid. Even though HAL did some tricky moves there to make it possible for the folks to get off of the ship on their shore excursions. So we are unsure if we will really go there. Hey, our buddies Greg and Heo said this is going to be a “mystery” cruise. They are so right. There doesn’t seem to be any problems with Hong Kong, Vietnam or Singapore as far as we know. Ever since we skipped Singapore in 2020, we have been hoping to go back as it is one of our favorite cities. Colombo, Sri Lanka is a one day stop, so getting transit visas there was so easy. And they were free on top of it. After putting in our applications yesterday, we had confirmation within minutes. Now they know how to welcome the tourists, unlike Brazil, who has royally screwed up in our humble opinion. Mumbai, India is an over-nighter and those without proper visas can stay onboard the ship. We do have a ten year visa that is still good, so no problem there. Then it is off to the United Arab Emirates, a wonderful and exotic place to visit, but also in a delicate area…the Persian Gulf. Close to Iran, it could be another hot spot. Traveling to Oman should be OK, but Jordan had some changes made a few months ago. But wait…..there’s more. Also a few months ago, the ports in Israel were cancelled due to the ongoing troubles there. Then more conflict has brought unrest to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. Will we be able to transit the canal to Europe? We are keeping our fingers crossed that we will keep this itinerary or it will be a long ride around the Cape of Africa to get back to the USA. If that is the case, we could miss stops in Turkey, Greece, Italy, Spain, and the Azores. Hopefully…..not. Yep, this is going to be a “Journey Like No Other”. Our luggage was shipped to a warehouse in Pompano Beach, Florida on December 14, and arrived a few days later. With one duffel and hand carrys, we fly out early tomorrow from SFO with a straight through flight to Ft. Lauderdale. Then we have a three night stay at the Marina Renaissance Hotel, with a dinner compliments of our travel agency, and transfers to the ship on January 3rd. Let the fun and games begin……….. stay tuned. Bill & Mary Ann

Greetings to all readers, Thank you for your kind remarks. We did arrive home safely, but have so much to do before the next voyage, it is almost overwhelming. Scheduled routine appointments will take up half of that time. We do not have any particular packing method because each piece of luggage can only weigh 50#, and be airline size. On a longer cruise such as the world voyage, we will have 8 pieces of luggage to be shipped. These days we do not over-pack, but tend to cut back. You can really get tired wearing the same stuff unless you bring at least two weeks of daytime and dinner time clothing. It is more important to us to bring all of the toiletries including meds, as we do not wish to waste our time looking for something as simple as familiar pain meds or even toothpaste. Linda and Dave: We will miss you guys. Wishing everyone Happy Holidays! Bill & Mary Ann

Report #78 Tuesday November 21, 2023 Last Sea Day Enroute To San Diego California, USA Sunny And Warmer 68 Degrees 30mph Winds 9'-12' Swell Part #1 Of 1 ........75 Pictures Well, all good things have to come to and end, and this series of cruises is one of them. We still are fascinated at how quickly the time flies while we are on these trips. All of our cruise friends totally agree. A few days ago, we got the notices concerning disembarkation on Wednesday. The first letter came from the hotel general manager, Glenn, who reminded the folks that taking the self-assist option for leaving was best for those with flights before 1pm. That way you would not need to locate your tagged luggage in the San Diego cruise terminal, which is always mixed with hundreds of bags that look the same. Of course, you must be able to handle all of your luggage hauling it from your room all the way to the exit and the customs check. When we watched the folks getting off the ship after a 7 day Alaska cruise, many of them packed so lightly, all they had was carry-ons. This is different because everyone had at least 51 days of stuff to bring. So their time to get off will be between 8 and 9:30am. The other options for debarking included having all of your bags outside the rooms before midnight, which would show up tomorrow in the terminal, arranged by color-coded tags. The colors are brown, green, and red 1, 2, and 3. The approximate time to begin leaving would be after 8am with the final call by 9:15am more or less. Club Orange, President’s Club, and 4 & 5 Star Mariners received a package with blue tags, and we have the option of exiting any time between 8:00am and 9:30am. And that will include us. The HAL bus transfer was available for those who wished to be driven to the San Diego Airport or if their flight was later in the late afternoon, they offered a tour with a transfer to the airport as well. We believe the cost for the transfer only was $29 per person. We intend to take a taxi as the airport is only 3 miles away from the cruise terminal. By the way, no final statements are delivered to the rooms anymore. If you wish to have a copy, it is best to visit the front desk, and they will print you one. We did that this morning, and asked for the last page only. We realized that we had some credit left to spend, and would do that later in the day. Of course, if you owed any money on your registered credit card, it would automatically be billed. And for the guest’s convenience, the Navigator App will have access to your account when you return home. All we need to have to get off is our room key, a luggage tag stub, and our passport to show when we pass by the Customs and Border Protection Inspection officers. And don’t bring any organic products off of the ship or you are in trouble. We thought we had the majority of our stuff packed, but the rest took us all morning. We did good, however, not exceeding the weight on all of the bags, depending on if our scale is still accurate. Since the sun was out and the temperature was in the low 70’s, we headed up to the Seaview Pool to relax for a while. There were even folks still sunbathing even though it was very windy, this was their last chance to get that suntan. Our good buddies did the same thing coming out for some fresh air, and joined us for a while. We’re all sad to see the trip end, but with the holidays are around the corner, and we shall be busy as bees quite soon. Captain Paul came on the speakers for his noon talk. He extended many thanks to the crew and the guests equally as he was quite proud to have been on this particular cruise. Sounds to us like it has been a long time since he has visited the South Pacific, even admitting some of our ports were new to him. And he expressed his thanks with three toots of the ship’s horn. Very funny, as we have never heard that before on all of the cruises we have been on over the years. The day was full of promotions, as you might expect, especially in the Shops. Some of us even received a personal call from the front desk girls reminding us that we had credit to spend. That’s nice because it was “use it or lose it” money. Checking out every shop on the ship, we came up with no ideas. So we decided to order cocktails at the dinner table, which would use up the money fast. Then we had to drink a bottle of champagne (really sparkling wine) and the best time for that was during the sunset. The afternoon clouds had cleared up and we actually had a decent sunset after 5pm. Maybe it looked even better due to the several glasses of the bubbly. Dinner was in the dining room with a regular menu. We had been expecting the Culinary menu like we had at the end of every Alaska trip. But tonight, we had a different menu with many nice choices. We did have those cocktails, then ordered a shrimp and artichoke dip with a bread stick. It was hot and really tasty. One of us had the cabbage bacon soup, and the other preferred the Caesar salad – hold the anchovies. Mains were the chicken cordon bleu with potatoes and peas. Simple and quite good. After our desserts of a lemon meringue cheesecake, friends Leta and Bill strolled over to say goodbye. Unfortunately, they will not be on the world cruise, but are going to Japan next year. The grand trips have become too long for them, so they like shorter ones that leave from Seattle or Vancouver because they live near there. We will miss them. On the way out, we said our goodbyes to our good buddies that we will see at lunch sometime in December. When we are all at home and not cruising, we make it a point to meet at least once a month. Before dinner, Rosie and Randy came over to give us hugs as well. Hopefully they will be on another cruise like this and we will meet again. Nice kids. We will all keep in touch via the internet or the mail. Back in our room, we spotted some luggage out in the hall, and we needed to do the same thing. Checking tags and locks, it took two minutes and the job was done. Breakfast is at 6:30am tomorrow in the Pinnacle Grill, so it is early to bed for us. By this time tomorrow, we shall be home if the traffic is not horrible. It is hard to predict because it is a Wednesday that many people take off for the long holiday weekend. That might be our only savior for not getting in the middle of commute traffic. Thanks for tagging along. Once again, it has been a pleasure. Bil & Mary Ann

Report #77 Monday November 20, 2023 Day At Sea Enroute To San Diego, California USA Cloudy With Periods Of Sun Cooler 75 Degrees 20mph Winds 9' Swells Part #1 Of 1.......43 Pictures---Dressy Night Today was day 5 on our long journey towards San Diego. It was noticeably cooler today, but what we noticed first was the fact that the high humidity was missing. Not that we’re complaining, but we sure do miss the heat from the sun. After breakfast and our morning walk, we headed back to the room with the intentions of packing more. Somehow we got distracted with phone calls which we can make from our computer. Took us a while to figure it out, but once it worked well, we made some family calls and also calls to check our air plans for Wednesday. Since the world voyage is approaching quickly, we needed to contact the luggage shipping company and arrange to have our bags picked up at our home. Also there was a deadline on that call, we decided to do it from the ship to get the ball rolling. We had a credit with the company from previous problems with the 2023 GWV, so it helped to keep costs down. We do get some luggage sent complimentary as well. We have learned to live with a lot less than previous years. Having complimentary laundry service really makes a difference in the amount of stuff you have to bring. At 1pm, we were invited with five other President’s Club members to a tour of the Volendam’s engine control room. All of us were present at the meeting point at the front desk. The chief engineer directed us to deck A where we followed him through the swinging doors of the unseen working deck of the ship. We entered the door of the control room, and stayed behind the area where all of the instruments were located. Once again, there were a series of panels, gauges, lights, and TV screens where cameras provide the controllers continuous photos of every area of the ship’s engines and everything that makes it run smoothly. Of course, we all had some questions, especially our friend Bill, who is a retired pilot from the Air Force as well as a commercial pilot. Most of the questions regarded the fact that this ship is considered “old” compared to the newer vessels these days. Things have changed quite a bit since the early days. Some for the good, most of the time. Anyway, the chief engineer spoke about a recent problem in the laundry room, where one of the huge dryers stalled and started a brief fire. We had read that story on one of the blog sites, but never knew it had happened here for real. It did not sound as dramatic as the news made out, but still could have been problematic had it not been detected and fixed immediately. Perhaps it did cause some smoke, but there may have not been a fire like we know and see fires on TV news. We did take some time to catch the sun at the Seaview Pool when it appeared between the drifting clouds. Today’s temperature was recorded at 68 degrees, a far cry from the 80’s we have been having. The wind was still strong, but the currents we seemed to be fighting have subsided. The end result is that the ship was not pitching like it was. That sure it is big help when it comes to packing in the staterooms. We figured by 4pm, we would have some sun on the veranda, and headed back there for the remainder of the afternoon. The sun was setting earlier this evening, and by the time it went past the horizon, the skies were almost clear. Still there was no green flash. Tonight’s dinner was in the Pinnacle Grill, our final one for this 56 day cruise. We had a drink voucher given to us by the previous Captain Whitaker and hotel director, Francois. We almost forgot we had it, since we seldom have cocktails before dinner. So Evelyn took care of that and had two drinks brought to our table. Our meal was the “usual” wedge salads, clothes line bacon, warm rolls, and extra salad dressings. Both of us had the filet mignon and skinny fries (that term always cracks us up). The food and the plates were so hot, just the way we like it. Desserts were orange sorbet and a chocolate souffle. It had been another busy night for this venue, since many folks had waited until the final days to make reservations here. Lucky for us, the majority of guests dined earlier. As far as we know, there are no more events happening tomorrow, so it will be time to finish the packing. So far, so good. Bill & Mary Ann

Report #76 Sunday November 19, 2023 Day At Sea Enroute To San Diego, California USA Rain Showers Clearing In The Afternoon To Clouds And Sun 20mph Winds 12' Swell Part #1 Of 1.........65 Pictures---Casual Dress For the very first time on this extended cruise, we over-slept and arrived late to the Pinnacle Grill for breakfast. Not by a lot, but enough the manager, Anton, was concerned. We have not missed one single morning there, and he knew we would arrive. Nice to know someone was watching for us, better yet that no one insisted on sitting at “our” table. Some people are funny that way if they see an opportunity. Taking a walk outside after breakfast, we got right in the middle of a mandatory crew drill, so we finished our mile or so, and ducked back inside. We had things to do. Day four at sea had arrived and we needed to begin packing. Of course, it was only half of what we usually bring on a 128 day voyage, but still time-consuming. We kept a list for one of the suitcases that will not have to be re-packed for the next trip. Then we continued to do the second piece of luggage because we had plenty of time, since it was not going to be a day to spend outside. By the way, the weather was terrible with winds at 23 knots, misty fog blowing over the decks, and close to 12 foot swells. We felt as if we were being told it was time to go home. The only thing that was OK was the temperature which was about 77 degrees. The humidity was another story as it measured at 90 %. Sticky but warm. Weighing each piece of luggage, we came up with 48 pounds each, and we had already filled most of the third bag. There was still one more left, and we could not figure out how we could have that much room left. With the ship pitching so much as well as rolling, we may not be able to trust the hand-scale. Hopefully, these conditions improve as we travel north towards San Diego, then we can weigh them once again. We also think there is a digital scale in the area of the front desk for the folks to use. Whether it is accurate is something we do not know. Taking a break, we went up to the Seaview Pool to find one man snorkeling with fins and lashed onto a ladder. Guess we are never here at 3pm, because we bet he does this every sea day. There was another couple who came up to swim. But when they put their robes and shoes on a lounge, they blew away. No wonder all of the chairs and umbrellas were stacked and tied down. Sitting on the opposite side of the smokers, we lasted for a while at a table which was out of the wind. One of the deck crew came over and offered us ice water, but we declined, thanking him. He had few customers today. Relaxing on our veranda, while waiting for the sun to go down, not expecting much due to the overcast skies that had persisted all day. However, we were happy to see some blue skies appear with some higher interesting clouds like two nights ago. It wasn’t the best sunset we have witnessed, but OK in our books. We will miss seeing this when we get home, as the mountain where we live, block the sunsets. Yesterday, we had received another invite (the third one) for a tour of the Volendam Bridge. Of course, we will not attend but it was nice to be included. As Captain Paul promised, he extended this invite for everyone on the ship. In addition to that, we had another invitation for an engine room tour tomorrow at 1pm. We suspect it will be our small group of seven President’s Club members, but we may be wrong. We will make it a point to attend this one. Finally, one of the front desk fellows came to our door before dinner and handed us tiles from this 56 day cruise, as well as a photo that was taken at the Mariner Event yesterday. Nice touch. Dinner in the dining room was special since it was Dutch-themed for The Orange Party that would take place at 8pm in the Lido Pool area. Of course, we would miss it because we prefer to eat at the same time and place most every day. So the menu was written in Dutch, with English explanations. We had three appetizers, mostly to see what they actually were. The shrimp cocktail was good, resembling the small shrimp one they have occasionally. The corn fritter turned out to be a Dutch version which looked like a pancake. Not only looked like, but was a pancake with corn in it covered with a sweet and sour sauce giving them a spicy taste. Not bad at all. The pea soup was the closest we have had to Dutch pea soup that was served while we were in Alaska. Also very good – stick to the ribs thick. Our entrees were different. One of us tried the Club Orange special of the day which was shrimp linguine, looking good on that blue plate. And the other main was the Indonesian bami goreng with noodles and satay chicken skewers. Also very tasty. Having a bit of room left, we both enjoyed the boschbals(sp?) with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. Expecting a small version of this éclair-like dessert, they came larger than we anticipated, but we were able to polish them off. Really good….. Got to catch up on sleep that we lost due to the hour ahead last night. Changing the clocks three times in this last week has made a difference .Just takes time to adjust. Bill & Mary Ann

Report #75 Saturday November 18, 2023 Sea Day Enroute To San Diego, California, USA Sunny And Windy 82 Degrees 19mph Wind Sea State: Rough 12' Swell Part #1 Of 1........56 Pictures--Casual Dress Day number three at sea turned out to be another busy day. We did try to keep our breakfast on the lighter side, but that is not always possible. It’s the healthiest meal of the day for us, and missing out on fresh berries with Greek yogurt would not be our choice. Every day now, they are baking blueberry-filled muffins just for us, so we cannot turn them down. And that is why we never eat lunch until 2 or 3pm. Some days, we have gone without lunch, so we are hungry for dinner. The reason for the light breakfast was an invite we got a few days ago for the Mariner Recognition Event, the first one of two, held in the lower dining room at 11:30am. This was done way different from what we have attended on most past cruises. Usually, there is a medallion awarding in another area, such as in the World Stage (grand voyages), the Explorer’s Lounge or the Rolling Stones Lounge on the Zuiderdam. Only the reward recipients and most times their spouses are invited with the highest number of sea day guests, such as the President’s Club members. Today that included the silver, gold, and platinum people that were getting their medallions as well as all of the guests that have already achieved that status. We estimate that about half of the passengers had been invited to this affair. This was held in the center of the lower dining room with the silver medallion guests being singled out and standing for all to see. Honestly, they should have called them up for their medals and photos with the Captain and Glenn, the hotel manager. Moving forward, the gold and platinum folks went up one or two at a time to receive their medals and photos. Finally, the seven of us President’s Club members were singled out and recognized with our number of days we had achieved with this last cruise. Photos were taken as well. We felt it strange that the tables of the newly “medaled” guests had a host joining them. That would be Kimberly, the hotel director, and the Captain. There may have been more officers that we did not see. We have always had a host with our group, but today, we did not have anyone. We think the problem was that one of the members had brought another guest with them, and the seat meant for an officer was gone. In our way of thinking, they should have given us a larger table especially if they knew we had eight people instead of seven. That oversight was mentioned to the Captain and Glenn after most of the guests had left the room. We really did not get a straight explanation of that either. Just a roll of the eyes from the Captain, acknowledging the oversight. Anyway, the lunch consisted of a choice of three starters of lobster with veggies, a pear salad, or a soup. The mains were a choice of filet mignon, a fish, and a vegetarian dish. We had the steak and it was delicious. Wish we had lightened up on breakfast, as we could not finish everything. Sparkling wine had been poured for the general toast, then if we wished, we could have ordered wine, as two of the guests did at our table. One of our guests asked for more champagne, but a sweet white wine was poured instead. Yuck….we still do not prefer wine. Water is better. Dessert was served which looked like two brownies with a sliver of a strawberry and a chunk of brittle. A small piece of candied popcorn was in the center. Coffee was offered, but by then, two of our tablemates departed. That’s when our fun began and the conversation flowed until almost 3pm. By that time, we looked around and the waiters were done and the surrounding tables were already set for dinner. By the way, there were no HAL tiles handed out, because we think they do not have any onboard. There was no mention of it, so we will have to inquire about that tomorrow. The remainder of the passengers will have the same event tomorrow afternoon. That should include the one and two star Mariners, which must be half of the guests onboard. Since the temperature was in the low 80’s, we went to the Seaview Pool to relax in the sun for a while. There were scattered clouds and we noticed that the humidity was only at 75%. With 20mph winds blowing across the decks from the northeast, the heat was tolerable. The seas had become rougher we thought with swells up to 12 feet. We are pitching and rolling noticeably much more than yesterday. Sadly, there was no sign of the booby that had been tagging along. Sitting on our veranda, we actually got chilled after the sun went down. It was another nice sunset, but nothing like last night’s. As we travel further north, we expect it to get cooler every day. Dinner was in the dining room with a good hot soup of baked potato and cheddar cheese. One of us had the veal tataki, and both of us had the small salad. Mains were the prime rib plate with a small baked potato and beans with carrots. Looked pretty….tasted good. Dessert was an apple tart right out the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Perfect. Three alternates for dinner this evening were the Canaletto, the Tamarind pop-up for $35 in the Pinnacle Grill and a Seafood Boil in the Lido for $35 as well. For that reason, the dining room was not crowded tonight. Entertainment in the show lounge was the women of Gravity, a singing group back on the stage with an all new show. Gosh, we never saw the first one. Hard to burn the candle at both ends. Tomorrow we have to seriously begin to pack. Hate to wait until the last minute. Oh yeah, the clocks went forward for that final hour. Now we are on “home” time for us. Bill & Mary Ann

Report #74 Friday November 17, 2023 Sea Day Enroute To San Diego California, USA Sunny And Warm 85 Degrees Sea State 6'-9' Swells Part #1 Of 2.......38 Pictures---Casual Dress Day two at sea revealed it must have rained during the night, as our veranda was wet. It was even more apparent when we took our morning walk on the promenade deck. The port side was soaked, while starboard was dry. The clouds that were floating over, appeared to be breaking up and we could see some blue sky. It would be a warm day after all. Checking the weather channel on the TV, we saw that the temperature was 81 degrees and the humidity was 78% still rather high as we sail north of the Equator now. The wind speed was 8.7 mph and it looked like the ship was moving along at 18 knots. This should be good enough to get us to San Diego as expected. At 11am, the Captain did a lecture in the World Stage with the subjects of the navigation of this cruise to this point, Antarctica voyages, and the Ukraine charter where he was the Captain at the time. We sure hope it is televised and we can catch it later. During his noon talk, Captain Paul mentioned that we were sailing the Doldrums, referring to the flat seas and little swell in the waters on this side of the Equator. The lack of wind also kept the name appropriate. But there was one factor that we learned later on that we are fighting a current coming from the north, which is causing the ship to pitch quite a bit. The rolling has been controlled slightly due to the use of the stabilizers, but we still need to be careful walking. That was a good enough excuse for us to stay at the Seaview Pool chatting with good friends until our assigned time for the Bridge Tour. At a little before 1pm, we met with our fellow President’s Club members on deck eight near the spa. From there, we were going to be led to the navigation deck, however, there was a problem. It seemed that there was an engine that lost power due to a pump leak. The officers went into motion to solve this problem, and the tour was cancelled for one hour. We thought we felt some strange vibrations at the aft pool that were new to us. By the time we went back for the tour, the problem was resolved and the speed picked up to almost 20 knots. Thank goodness for that good news. We went back to the pool and waited out the hour by drinking ice water and watching the one and only booby that seems to have followed the ship since leaving Nuku Hiva. This bird would swoop over the waves, then disappear for a while. We bet this masked booby was at the bow, sitting on top of the flagpole. At 2pm, we gathered once again to be led to deck seven and the navigation deck. We were all greeted by Sharon, the 3rd Officer, who had piloted the ship out of the bay in Nuku Hiva, as well as bringing up the anchor she had dropped early in the day. Today she was the leader and an excellent officer to explain with great detail everything we were seeing on the bridge. The ship was actually on “auto pilot” as we saw all of the controls set to keep the ship going in the right direction, correcting any deviations that occurred by the second. Every security camera was visible from multiple screens. Communication devices had more than one back-up in case of power failure. Compasses are still used in addition to computerized gauges and satellite connections. One large power board showed every deck and every set of fire doors, which can be closed with a touch of button here. As well as joy sticks to control the direction of the ship, its propellers, and side thrusters, there is also an old- fashioned wheel, although small, that can do the same thing with the steering. As you can imagine, every single thing is documented every minute of the day. We saw the watchman, who keeps his eyes on the horizon, a hard job for sure, and the several officers who have their specialized jobs. Many of them were sitting and working in an office behind the bridge. We asked several questions one of which was what were the “barber” chairs for. Set against the back wall, these chairs are meant for the pilots and their team that board the ship in every port. And for tired officers too we suspect. And by the way, one of the first things we spotted was the masked booby resting on top of the pole in the bow. We were right with our guess. The Captain mentioned that they were not pleased with the mess the bird was making, but the bird would have a ride until it either flies elsewhere, or ends up in San Diego. And we did hear that the Captain wants to give every passenger the chance for this same tour, which will be a nice gesture. It is seldom, if ever, done these days. We had quite a nice sunset this evening……a very different type to be exact. It began around 5:30pm with a sky full of small clouds, well below those nasty-looking black clouds. The sky lit up and lasted for a long time. It faded as the sun dipped down below the cloudy horizon, but re-appeared 20 minutes later with almost a repeat performance. This one was a keeper. Dinner was back in the dining room, although the tables were spotty to say the least. We believe that the guests are going to the Pinnacle for a Tamarind pop-up or to the Canaletto for a change. The appetizers were good again with smoked chicken slices and a rutabaga/cauliflower base. Salads were mixed with oranges, asparagus, tomatoes, and lettuce – hold the blue cheese please. Mains were the veal chop with a tasty mushroom gravy. Sides were mashed potatoes, snap peas, and asparagus, which they must have a lot of. We did have this entrée while on the world cruise, but tonight these chops had been cut in half widthwise. Just as well as it was more than we could finish. Saved a little room for sliced pineapple and vanilla ice cream and one snow berry chocolate tart with meringue on top. Tonight the entertainer was Comedian Sid Davis with a performance titled “Common Sense”. The other three choices were entertainers in the Mix, Ocean Bar, and Explorers Lounge. Never a dull moment here. Tomorrow we have been invited to another event with the Mariner’s Lunch. Should be interesting. Bill & Mary Ann

Report #73 Thursday November 16, 2023 Sea Day Enroute To San Diego, California USA Mostly Sunny Clouds And Showers Late Afternoon 80 Degrees Sea State: 3'-6' Swells Part #1 Of 1.......18 Pictures---Casual Dress Well we have begun the 6 day run towards San Diego, and all seems to be going OK. It was a mostly sunny day with temps in the low 80’s. It did cloud up in the late afternoon, but so far, no rain. For that we are glad. We had a little surprise on our veranda early this morning. Opening the drapes, we spotted a bird that had taken refuge on our deck. It appears to be a bridled tern, and possibly injured. We could not see anything visibly wrong with it, but obviously that is not a normal behavior. It did not seem to have any fear of us , although we did not go outside to check it. Sometimes, these birds are attracted to the lights that are on during the night. Usually they fly into a window by accident, so we don’t know if that was the case today. On our way to breakfast, we informed our room steward that we had an unexpected visitor. He promised to check it out. When we returned an hour later, the bird was gone. Working on photos and reports, we spent most of the morning in the room. There was another 10am brunch in the dining room, which we never attend. In a way, that gives the early morning waiters a chance to sleep in a little later, we assume. That meal lasts until 12:30pm, and there is no regular lunch served in the dining room. It’s like a 2 for 1. Of course, there is always the Lido breakfast and lunch. Our biggest project of the day was washing our shoes. After a day of walking the roads and the detour with the construction, our tennis shoes were noticeably soiled. Using the bathtub worked quite well, although it may take a day or so for them to dry. Putting them outside helped when the sun hit our deck. Otherwise, with the high humidity, they take forever to dry. Good thing we remembered to bring spare shoes. Before we are out of the tropics, it is a good time to mention the practice of tattoos. The word “tattoo” comes from the Tahitian word tautau or tattow, the actual sound made by the tapping of their ancient tools. It is believed that the reason for these permanent markings of the skin was indicate hierarchy or one’s rank within a society. It could indicate sexual maturity, family lines, and one’s interests. Tahitian tattoos are based on the four elements of Water, Earth, Wind, and Fire. They are meant to give each and everyone their own identity. When the Europeans brought Christianity to the South Pacific, tattoos were frowned upon. They were banned and considered a desecration of the body. After years of suppression tattoos have returned as cultural symbols of Polynesia. These days, you see them everywhere in every country. The main tool used was a comb of sharp needles carved from a bone, shark teeth, or seashell. The second tool was a wooden stick to tap over the comb, puncturing the skin thus inserting the pigment or ink. This would take two sets of hands, since the skin had to be stretched for the artist to tap in the ink. Must have been painful, but both men and some women did it. Mostly the men. In Samoa, the tattoos were geometric patterns representing people, animals, seagulls and centipedes. Typically the Samoan warrior would have tattoos that began at the waist, then extended to just below the knee. In Tonga, the patterns were geometric patterns of triangles and bands of solid black. Once again they went from the waist to the knees. In some cultures such as New Zealand, the Maoris will tattoo their faces to appear fierce to their enemies. It works. Will there be tattoos in our future? No way Jose….. We sent some time at the aft pool enjoying the nice weather. While there, a good friend joined us and we chatted for a while. Then Captain Paul came on the speakers for his daily report. He mentioned that the sea swells were between one and two meters, and there was a current preventing us from achieving the speed of 18 plus knots for the moment. We were doing around 17 knots, and would eventually need to make up the lost time in the following days. None of us wishes to be arriving late to San Diego with all of the flights and travel plans set now. Dinner was in the Pinnacle Grill, which we did enjoy more since we had skipped lunch today. It was a bit of a surprise to see the restaurant full of customers this evening. Anton came out to greet us in the hall, asking permission to delay our seating for a few minutes. It seems that someone had accidently given our table away, not that our name is on it, but he knows we like the window tables. This time we were seated in the booth next to the window tables. Not a big deal, we were happy to be seated. The service was a little slower than usual, but we did get our usual salads and bacon starters. Both of us ordered the lamb chops with a side of fully loaded baked potatoes. Very good as always, we split an almost Baked Alaska for dessert. We also had a time change of ½ hour forward tonight. Now we only have one more hour to go to be on home time. Everyone received the notice about the process of going home concerning luggage tags and times to debark. More details will arrive in a few days from now. There was an invitation to a mariner’s brunch on Saturday as well. And tonight, Joice the assistant hotel manager, found us at dinner and said we were invited to a special event tomorrow for the seven President’s Club members. She said another invite had been sent, but we did not find it by 9:30pm. We will have to hunt her down and ask the details tomorrow. Bill & Mary Ann

Report #72 Wednesday November 15, 2023 Anchored At Taiohae, Nuku Hiva, Marquesas, French Polynesia 8am-5pm Partly Cloudy With Sun 90 Degrees Sea State -Calm Part #1 Of 6........74 Pictures---Casual Dress What a better way to end the South Pacific ports than with a visit to Nuku Hiva located in the Marquesas Islands. There are 12 islands that make up this archipelago, but only 6 of them are inhabited. There is a total of 9350 people that live here in an area that is spread out over 350 kilometers. Due to the distances between the islands, each one has kept its own personality, customs, and even language. Access to these remote islands is by boat or airplane. Our destination today was Nuku Hiva, the second largest island in all of French Polynesia with Tahiti being the largest. The size of this “high” island is 330 square kilometers with about 3000 people. The main village and administrative center of the Marquesas is Taiohae and our port of call today. All of the Marquesan islands are considered high due to the fact they do not have lagoons, but are volcanic mountains so to speak. Sailing into the scenic and protected Taiohae Bay, the bow was opened at 6:30am for the folks that wanted to enjoy the voyage into the harbor. Watching from our veranda and the bow channel on the TV, we could see a handful of people that showed up for this sail-in. From a distance, the island was in the typical sun haze, until we got closer. It was a spectacular view, as always, coming into the bay that was filled with many small and medium pleasure craft. It is quite common to see the “yachties” living on these boats, and using a small dinghy to come shopping in town for food and supplies. Also spotted were many birds…mostly white terns, noddies, and a few frigatebirds. We left the ship about 10am when open tenders were announced. It seemed to be taking quite a while for the ticket numbers to be called, and we soon found out the reason why. Our boat filled quickly, and we were waiting at the tender landing before leaving right away. They needed to stall for the other boat to come back before we could proceed. The problem turned out to be a very high step from the tender to access the concrete landing at the dock. There was an usually low tide this morning which did not help. To prevent any accidents, the crew was taking extra precautions helping the folks out of the boat and also going back into the boat when it was empty. Lucky we have long and strong legs, but not every one does. There was at least one elderly couple that decided not to attempt it, and stayed on the boat to ride back to the ship. Can’t say we blame them, as they knew their limits and despite all of the talks and warnings, we sure do not remember anyone saying there was a big step to get ashore today. It was mentioned in Fakarava, but not here. There was one HAL tour offered here today at two different times. It was a scenic 3 hour drive to Taipivai Valley for $140. Private vehicles were used, as there are no tour buses here. It took the folks from Taiohae to the lush vegetation of the valley above the village with stops at many viewpoints. The roads were winding, steep, and rocky. And if you are subject to car-sickness, don’t go. Besides small villages you would see churches and maraes, and there was a stop at Hooumi for a cold beverage. If we remember right, there is a small black sand beach there. In addition, the drivers may not speak good English and their cars and mini vans may not have air-conditioning. Can’t be picky on such a small island. Kimberly’s talk also mentioned the fact that there were Marquesan horses here, and also wild pigs and goats. And fish was in their diet of course. There was no snorkeling here and few beaches. The murky waters can hide sharks such as hammerheads and sometimes the great whites. For that reason, few of the local people venture far into the bay. This island is also famous for the filming of a Survivor series back in 2001. Colette Beach or Bay was mentioned although it is abandoned now and it is not easy to access. Complicating the search for this beach, is the fact that “no seeums” or biting insects are rampant there. According to Kimberly, these almost invisible insects can leave you with big itchy welts. She suggested if you were going there, you would need insect repellant and lots of it. All good advice, but we think it was best not to go there at all. First of all, it was much hotter than it looked. We think the high topped out at 90 degrees, and being closer to the Equator, the humidity was up. We took our normal walk through the produce market, craft store, and the info desk shop. Then we headed towards the old church, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Catholic church built in the 1800’s using wood and stones from all of the Marquesan Islands. We learned from one of our buddies, that some of the stones were brought here from as far as Europe. But there was a problem, because the church was not opened to walk into the interior. There was re-modeling and construction going on, and according to the sign, it would not be completed until December of this year. Oh well, we did have the chance to look through the opened doors along with the crowd of people on the morning tour. There were at least one dozen vehicles parked in the lot when we arrived, with each one holding four to six customers. We got photos, then left. The breeze was a bit better by the water, but that’s when we ran into more road construction. There were a few backhoes and a lot of men working on a huge project of re-configuring the road. Much of the seawall property with the fields, moais, and outdoor patios were detoured by a new road. Not wanting to climb more hills than we needed, we stuck to the dirt path and around the workers. This brought us to the school area, the local beach front, and the old cemetery. There used to be a monument for the writer/sailor Herman Melville (1819 to 1891) whose book Typee put this place on the map. One of us was fortunate to have found this book in the library and read it thoroughly before our arrival here. Although some of his writing about he and his friend, both teenagers at the time, being held captive upon leaving a whaling ship, may have been stretched to make it more appealing. But most of his writings were factual concerning the natives he met and how they managed to live with them for a time. The subjects in his book dealt with basic survival, cannibalism, warfare among the natives, and relationships with the tribe. It sure put a different face on what we were seeing today. There used to be a Herman Melville memorial near the cemetery, but sadly, it was removed as it was deteriorating over the years. Perhaps a new one is part of the road project. Finding our way back to the main road, we followed it until we reached the sign for the Nuku Hiva Pearl Lodge. It was quite a climb to get up the steep and rocky road in the worst heat of the day, but we made it. We ran right into friends Rosie and Randy who had also come up here for the cold beers. We told them a story of a man from the ship that was coming up here to go to Colette Bay, which we knew was not this way. He insisted it was, and we said nothing. Near the lodge, we found him asking some local girls where the way was to this bay and beach. As far as we know, there is no road that goes that way, so we do not know where he ended up. Entering the resort restaurant, we were greeted by the waiter/waitress? who recognized us from being here often. Welcoming us back, we were seated in the shade and the million-dollar breeze. We ordered Hinanos, which came in cans that were ice cold. Even the glasses were frosted. We shared a Neapolitan pizza with fresh rolls with butter as starters. Staying for 1 ½ hours, we ended our meal with a shared chocolate volcano cake with vanilla ice cream. Upon leaving, we were invited back and we said – same time and same place in a year from now, God-willing. Sadly, it was time to head back into the heat, hoping for a better breeze along the way. Going down on the exposed beach, we walked halfway back in the wet black sand before going back to the road. Very few folks were coming our way now, as we think the majority of them had already gone back to the cooler ship. Going from tree to tree for shade, we got back to the dock by 2pm just missing the tender that left. A line of 20 or more folks were already there enjoying the water and lemonade drinks while they waited for the next boat. A crew member was handing out wet chilled washcloths to help cool us off. Usually we do not use them, but today it was nice. Sitting at the middle exit area of the tender, we were lucky to be the first ones off and heading up the platform steps. That first blast of air-conditioning was very welcoming. Cooling off in our room was even better with the help of a cold shower and more than a few sodas. All aboard was 4:30pm, but the loading of the final guests took longer than expected as a swell had come up, and loading was slower than earlier. Captain Paul came on the speakers around 4:30pm, and congratulated his crew with the tendering operations today. Reading between the lines, it sounded as if some guests were not happy with the slowness of the ride going and coming back. He apologized for the inconveniences, but that can be expected sometimes. He added that the 3rd officer, a female that joined in Papeete, would pull the anchor she had dropped 130 meters, and sail the ship out of the bay. Under his supervision of course. We have 2929 nautical miles to reach our final destination of San Diego, and it will take 18.4 knots of speed to arrive there. It will also take three engines to do it. Finally, sunset would be 5:50pm and sunrise would be 5:20am tomorrow. Dinnertime snuck up on us, and we ordered excellent mixed salads, a bowl of chicken dumpling soup, and one shrimp/pork spring roll. Mains were fajitas with seasoned rice, peppers, sour cream, guacamole, and slices of tender and tasty steak cooked medium rare. We heaped it all in the flour tortilla, savoring every bite. What fun for a change. This chef does Mexican cuisine quite well. Maybe we can ask him to serve enchiladas, a favorite meal for us at home. Desserts were one brownie cheesecake, and a plate of sliced pineapple with vanilla ice cream. Looking forward to six lazy days at sea as we head towards home. Well, not quite lazy as we will have to begin packing…… Bill & Mary Ann

Report #71 Tuesday November 14, 2023 Sea Day Enroute To Nuku Hiva, Taiohae, Marquesas Sunny With Broken Clouds 81 Degrees Sea State: 6' Swell Part #1 Of 1.......42 Pictures Finally, a day at sea to kick back and do as little as possible. It was going to be another warm day with temperatures in the low 80’s even at 9am. The humidity is still 73%, but much better than what we had yesterday in Fakarava. Light rainfall was predicted, and we did see it on the horizon, but they were able to steer the ship around it. We recall the days of not so long ago, when a favorite beverage crew member, Manny, would come and warn all of us at the Seaview Pool that a giant squall was up ahead, and we needed to get our stuff gathered and run under the overhang. Sometimes it began as a drizzle then turned into a sudden downpour flooding the decks. These days we doubt there would be any warning. In fact, seeing everyone suddenly getting soaked might be entertainment for the crew and those crew members in the navigation deck with the cameras. Just kidding of course. Breakfast was at 8am, which is better than 7:30am. No rush to go anywhere, we took our time and enjoyed several cups of coffee. The almost daily cappuccino for one of us will be a hard habit to kick when we go home. After breakfast, we went to the promenade deck for a mile or so walk. It happens to be the same time that the hosted deck walk happens, and some of the folks sure don’t know the rules of passing. Where we come from, a polite “on your left” is nice. But here, some people just storm around you in the most inconvenient places, such as rounding the corners. The best part of this walk is that most of the rude folks leave after once or twice around the deck. Today there was a 10am cooking demo in the World Stage, so that drew the folks back inside thank goodness. Yesterday we all received a notice that the passports would be handed back to us between 10am and noon. We were asked to bring our passport receipts to the mid elevator landings on the deck you lived on. As we were just coming back from our walk, we ran into our Mariner host, Arnold, who gladly gave us the passports without the receipt. Good timing. We will not need these until we leave for home on November 22nd. Working in the room until 12pm, we headed off to the Seaview Pool to get some fresh air and sun. It was warmer than we thought in the sun as compared to sitting on our shaded veranda. We had learned from a friend that there was an Indonesian lunch in the dining room at noontime, but it was not advertised anywhere. Checking the lunch menu in the dining room on the TV we saw that the menu was totally Indonesian. Checking the Daily newsletter revealed not one word about this special lunch. Someone has been dropping the ball on some of these events. Even during Kimberly’s pep talk at 9am, she did not mention it. We have been forgetting to check our shipboard account on TV since their accounting is not always detailed enough. And for some unknown reason, a few of the charges had been put on from September, then taken off…not once, but twice. Looking closer, it looked as if one of our credits for the internet package had not been credited. The best thing was to take an older statement down to the front desk, and have them explain it. They could not figure it out, so took it to their finance department, who would get back to us later. That was fine, at least it was in motion. An hour later, we had a phone call saying a new statement would be sent to our room. Someone had gone back and removed the charges and credits, and added three credits for the internet, which should have been four. So confusing, they promised to check deeper, discovering that the initial cost for our package was already credited and printed at the lower rate. No one told us that in the beginning, so now we know. And due to the poor conductivity in our room, they promised somewhat of a credit for our inconvenience. Anything credited is better than nothing. All of our buddies have admitted they have never had such good connections to the wifi, but then their rooms are situated better than ours is on deck six. We learned later that other folks on decks 6 and 7 are having issues as well. It’s not just us. We have been told that in time, all of the staterooms will have their own hotspot, the same as the newer HAL ships. Now we have to rely on the hallway hotspots, which in our case, is blocked by too much metal they told us. That’s why propping open the door helps sometimes. Lunch was Dive In burgers – one hamburger and one chicken. No fries, even though they said they were cooked fresh. We can live without them. Finishing up yesterday’s photos and report, we enjoyed the sunset again tonight. Even with the dark clouds, it was pretty when the rays hit the water. If we continue sailing in this direction of northeast, we should see the sunsets all the way back. So much better than last year, when it rained most of the way back to San Diego. Tonight’s suggested dress was “dressy” and there was a Volendam Ball – a gala dance with the officers and crew. The trouble with that was it was scheduled at 8pm, right in the middle of our dinner time. Would we attend it? Probably not, but normally the time would be 9:30pm. A few years back, it was 10pm. So we figured that the early time targeted the early diners who could attend the dance, and still be in bed at a decent time. We found it funny that this affair would be scheduled now, an evening before the final port day. Since we have eight more days left, seven of them sea days, it might have been better to have the ball on one of those evenings. Again, what do we know? Anyway, dinner was good with offerings of new appetizers. We ordered coated and fried ricotta cheese on a bed of spinach and a tomato sauce. They were small servings, but really tasty. One of us had the chicken broth soup and the other the Caesar salad which finally came with fresh romaine lettuce. Mains were one chicken alternate dinner and the other was the crispy roasted pork belly. It does sound strange, but it was good. We have been told by those who know that pork belly has been one of the popular items on the Australian menus lately. Desserts were the lemon custard-filled phyllo dough pouch with a strawberry and pineapple slice. Very good as well. Desserts will be another thing to stop when we get home, as it has become a sometime habit while onboard. This time we are happy with the reduced portion size of the sweet treats. Tomorrow we will be in Nuku Hiva, our very last stop of this long cruise. Where has the time gone??? Bill & Mary Ann

Report #70 Monday November 13, 2023 Anchored At Fakarava, Tuamotu, French Polynesia 8am-5pm Sunny And Hot With Some Clouds 86 Degrees Part #1 Of 5.......70 Pictures---Casual Dress We have arrived to a new archipelago – the Tuamotu islands and atolls which number 80 in total. This area is the most spread out compared to the other archipelagos we have visited so far. The total population of this area is 16,880 inhabitants within 20,000 square kilometers, but only 775 square kilometers of dry land. Only 6% of the total of French Polynesians live here and have jobs linked to tourism, fishing, copra production, and even nuclear testing by France in the past. Pearl farms produce the most luxurious black pearls in the lagoons, and they supply the market with 98% of the gems. But the real wealth, it is said, comes from the underwater world, also known as their lagoons. Today’s port of call is the atoll of Fakarava, meaning beautiful in Tahitian. It is the second largest atoll, with Rangiroa the largest as well as the capital. There are about 845 residents of this atoll with only 16 square miles of dry land, but has a massive lagoon with 1121 square kilometers. There are 30 kilometers of coral-packed roads on this atoll. We suppose the best way to describe an atoll is comparing it to a string of pearls. The land portion is a ring of coral (the pearls), while the center of the necklace is a lagoon. Much of one side of this lagoon is not a solid coral reef, but consists of a series of motus, making circumnavigation impossible. Many places can only be reached by boat. There are a few cars, several pick-up trucks, and one wooden school bus like “le truck”. There were no HAL shore excursions offered here today, however some folks were able to book something independently prior to the cruise. The tours would be strictly related to the water like snorkeling, diving, or boating. It is reported that Fakarava has some of the best diving in Polynesia with hundreds of reef sharks. Kimberly mentioned that these “harmless to people” sharks have only had 24 recorded attacks here, which is way too much for us. She said these reef and grey sharks are called foxes of the seas. There are also nurse sharks that hang around the shores of the lagoon in the village, as we would find out on our walk. One thing for sure was that it was going to be a most uncomfortably hot and humid day. Like oppressive heat with little breeze. Nothing like last year’s visit where we had record hurricane winds, thunder and lightning with a tropical downpour. Today there were passing clouds, but no rain in sight. It was so hot, we almost wished it would rain. Temperatures reached 86 degrees but felt a lot more than that with the humidity. Very early this morning, passengers began to gather on the bow to watch the entrance through the north opening of the atoll. It is called Garuae pass and it the widest pass in all of French Polynesia at 1.6 kilometers from end to end. The other pass is in the southern part of the ring of coral and is called Tamakohua. The turbulence created in these passes is massive, causing a rushing flow of water that comes in and out with the tides. It can be tricky getting ships through it. Many times dolphins like to hang out in these passes because the fishing is good. However, we saw none today. Sailing into the center of the lagoon outside the village of Rotoava, they dropped anchor, and we had to use the tenders to get ashore. We stayed onboard until 10:30am, then headed down to the boat. It was easy boarding as the waters were calm today and the ride only took about 15 minutes to the village. We were all greeted with island ladies handing out the fragrant tiare flowers with the band playing in the backround. We did not choose to go swimming here, but many of the guests did just that. Remembering that there were sharks lurking in the shallows, we were just as happy with a long walk. There were a few shops at the pier landing, but we knew there was nothing we needed. Many of the over-heated guests went inside these shops because they had air-conditioning and fans. Turning right at the main road, we passed by the primary school and a nice-looking restaurant called Hirinaki Lounge. It looked closed, but may have opened for guests later in the afternoon. Most all of the cafes along the road would not open until dinnertime. And that included the place that had pizza. The shoreline of the lagoon began here, and was already filled with folks swimming and sitting on their striped blue and white beach towels from the ship. It looked like the invasion of the body snatchers. We sure hope these folks knew to wear aqua shoes or flip-flops because it is mostly broken sharp coral and volcanic rocks to navigate to get into the water. The waters are shallow and covered with smooth dark rocks with some sandy spots. If you watch long enough, like we did, you can spot the nurse sharks as they slither over the smoother rocks in search of the small fish. Some of these can measure over 7 feet in length. We spotted one within a few yards of walking the beach. Most people think they are harmless, but we did hear a story from friends that actually saw a nurse shark jump up at a woman who was taking a picture bending over to do it. The shark caught her in the chest, and both the lady and shark had to be pulled out of the water and have its jaws pried off of her. Harmless, don’t think so. Never underestimate a wild animal in their own element. As swimmers, we are prey, and out of our element. Continuing up the road, we passed many homes and a few shops, mostly closed as they always are this time of year. We came across the Catholic Church that was built with coral rocks in 1874. The interior is painted a soft blue and gives one the feeling of coolness even if it was not. On the outside, there were a few island ladies selling some shell jewelry. Some people were checking it out when another lady guest from the ship was going to enter the church with only an open shirt over her swimsuit. The local ladies actually yelled at her and stopped her in her tracks, reminding her it was a church and she should not go inside dressed like that. Sometimes people are clueless. We took the time to walk to the back of this church to see the old cemetery. People still decorate the grave sites with silk or plastic flowers, since they last almost forever. Also in the back were public restrooms, about the only ones we saw today. Good thing we brought some water with us, as the heat was melting us rapidly. Kimberly had warned everyone not to drink any island water since it is from rainfall. Even the locals drink bottled water. Going onward from here, we noticed several people had gotten rides in local pick-up trucks and even rented bikes. Some of the cruise passengers rented bikes, but should not have attempted that without some prior thinking. We have seen a man fall while riding a bike a few years back, and when he went down on the coral-based road, he was cut to ribbons. Something did happen later on involving bike riding, but not until we had boarded the tender for the ride back. So our destination was Havaiki Pearl Lodge where a small outdoor eatery is located by the name of Snack Le Requin. It was noontime by now, and there was a line of eight or more people ordering food and beverages at the shack’s window. It was more crowded than we expected, but we were in need of something cold to drink, and while we were at it, we may as well share a cheeseburger and a pile of fries. We had forgotten, but they did accept credit cards here, as long as the internet stayed running. There was a 20 minute wait for the line to move, but we did get some nice seats at a table in the shade to eat our food. Since there were six chairs, a nice lady and her friends asked to sit with us. They did not speak English, only French, but we recognized them from being at the Seaview Pool every day we went back there. By the time we finished our meal, they were still enjoying their drinks. Heading back, we came across more nurse sharks, and actually got some good photos of them lurking around the many swimmers. Not sure these folks saw the sharks as they blended so well with their surroundings. If nothing else, we could stand in the shade of the casuarinas and palm trees watching these creatures doing their thing. On past excursions, we have gone on tours where we swam with white and black tip sharks and did not really like the feeling of being possible snacks for them. Viewing from the shore was just fine with us. We did see a little dog playing with what we thought was another fat dog. It turned out to be a small pig, who stopped in its tracks when we whistled. Must have been a pet or next Christmas’s dinner, who knows? Many folks were on their way back to the tenderboats like us. The sun and heat could really take a toll on you. While we waited for the tender to take off, a police vehicle arrived with an injured lady and her friend. What a shock to see it was the two ladies that joined us at lunchtime. She could barely walk, and it took three crew fellows to lift her carefully into the tender. It just so happened that one of the most helpful crew members was our waiter Mario. Later on, he told us she had an accident while riding the bike, falling on the coral road. Ouch, that must have hurt. Mario thought she may have broken an ankle because he said it did not look right. Lucky that the police officer had driven them to the pier. Within 10 minutes of getting off of the tender, we heard the call for the medical staff. Hope she will be OK. There is a hospital in Nuku Hiva, but we are not sure how much can be done there as far as complicated broken bones are concerned. All aboard was 4:30pm, and Captain Paul came on the speakers with the sail away info. The plan was to lift the anchor, then turn around and sail out of the north passage the way we had come. We now have 514 nautical miles to reach Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas in two days from now. The speed needed will be 14.8 knots. Hot temperatures can be expected tomorrow as well. Finally, the clocks would need to advance ½ hour, one of those few places in the world we have to do that. The extra ½ hour ahead will be in a few days, followed by the final hour forward before reaching San Diego. Sailing through the turbulence was interesting, but not as bumpy as the one in Rangiroa. We had hoped to see some dolphins, but there were none. What we did enjoy was watching the sun go down before the ship turned northeast. There were considerable clouds blocking the full sun, but it was just as nice as a clear horizon. Dinner was back in the dining room where we were greeted by a new head waiter Koes. He has taken Bayu’s place and remembered us from many cruises. Now he will join the band of greeters as we all enter through the doors on deck five. We try sneaking by them, but they see us every time. It’s their fun for the day. Mario greeted us with the details of the accident this afternoon. We told him he was a good guy for being such a big help. We ordered one grilled shrimp appetizer (really good), and a bowl of tomato soup (even better). Salads were a panache of greens with tangerines and pear slices. Who knew how nicely they go together? Mains were one Club Orange roasted lamb and one duck entree with smashed red potatoes and peas. Both quite tasty. Desserts were a small slice of a chocolate cake and sliced pineapple…both with a side of a tiny scoop of vanilla ice cream. Service was quick because our fellows only had us and another table of guests. Guess the heat got to most everyone today. There was a show tonight with a group called Gravity, three singers from the UK taking folks on a musical journey. And with the clocks going forward, we called it a night. Really looking forward to a lazy day at sea tomorrow. Bill & Mary Ann

Report #69 Sunday November 12, 2023 Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia Day #2 Docked On The Eleventh Leave Today At 5pm Cloudy Very Humid Rain In The Mountains Sunny In Town 86 Degrees Part #1 Of 2.......77 Pictures---Casual Dress Our second day in Papeete began even warmer than yesterday. The predicted rain of 30% never did appear in town, although we could see showers up high in the mountains. That’s why it is so green everywhere. Lots of water. We stayed onboard once again getting some computer work done in our room. All aboard was 4:30pm, so we still had plenty of time for a nice walk in the humid heat. We more or less re-traced our steps from yesterday, checking the Marketplace in case they might open up for a few hours. What we did find were a few of the flower vendors with what they had left over from yesterday’s bouquets and cut flowers. The group was sitting outside the locked gates of the building. This time we did not need any more flowers since we had a nice bouquet from the florist onboard. And knowing they come with ants, we did not want those either. What we did find open was the tourist info office where we collected maps of almost every French Polynesian island for future use. Along with the two travel guides, we are set when we come back here again. So much of the useful printed maps and brochures are not around anymore, so none of this collection will be tossed. There were a few more souvenir tables set up by the info office, which really reminded us of the ones that were always under the thatched-roof huts across the street. Remember when the Tahitian singers and girls greeted you at the info center coming out of the dock area? Well that is all gone now, but these vendors across the boulevard look the same. And they did not have that special purple shell we are searching for. Maybe next time…… Continuing up the side street, we walked past the Cathedral expecting it to be open for Sunday mass. Well it was still locked up. And we are not sure the Assembly Building was opened either. Glad we discovered that area yesterday. Of course, LA Pizzeria was closed, so we walked across the street to Paofai Park and Gardens. Turning left, we followed the marina all the way to the end where To’ata Square is located. There is a grouping of grandstands there with an open-air theater for concerts and the like. We read that it can handle up to six thousand people, although we are not sure where that many people could park cars. Nothing was happening there today, so we sat on the rock wall admiring the harbor down at this end. It is very close to the airport and the planes were landing regularly. Making our way back along the waterfront, we stopped once again at Le Moana for a snack of crispy French fries, two more Hinano beers and a shared banana split. Since we had reservations in the Pinnacle Grill this evening, we wanted to keep lunch light. Maybe not the healthiest, but that’s what vacations are for, right? We did learn a few words that were helpful with ordering food and drinks here in Tahiti. Taofe means Tahitian coffee with a touch of vanilla. Firi firi means doughnuts with coconut milk. Pia is beer and pahua is a giant clam. Uru is the fruit of the breadfruit rich in vitamins, and mape is the Tahitian sweet chestnut. Coming back along the marina, we noticed that several grids of steel have been “planted” along the sea wall with corals. They attract the fish, and in time it will be a live reef. Better than snorkeling and it is completely free. We got back to the ship after 2pm, and had ice cold sodas to cool off. By 4:30pm, the rain clouds appeared to be closing in over the mountains, and soon it was raining. We could smell it before it came down. The rain continued until we were far off of the island and heading northeast towards the atoll of Fakarava. While downloading photos, we listened to Captain Paul with his plans for today’s departure. He was still waiting for 30 people to get back from a tour, so leaving was close to 5pm. He was turning the ship over to the third officer (under his supervision of course) to take the ship out through the tight reef opening. From recently reading the book Typee by Herman Melville, we knew that there were a number of old sailing ships that sunk trying to access this harbor. Many of them were whaling boats. And some of the remains are still there we understand. We will be sailing into the atoll of Fakarava, located in the Tuamotu Archipelago tomorrow morning. We have 245 nautical miles to go and need a speed of 17.1 knots to get there. The Captain added that we might expect some squalls and showers along the way, but tomorrow will be another hot and humid day. He did not mention if it would rain. Last year was a different story. We had sudden hurricane winds and torrential rain while there. The coral road turned into a flowing creek going over and into our shoes as we walked back to the tender area. We still laugh about it now, but we got soaked to the bone. Umbrellas were useless. As we stated, dinner was in the Pinnacle Grill with our favorite wedge salads and candied bacon. Honestly, that is quite enough to fill us up these days, but we did add the smallest filet mignons and potatoes. We shared the almost Baked Alaska while visiting with friends Bill and Leta who happened to be eating at our breakfast table. Always a pleasure to reminisce over the last 21 years of sailing together on many long voyages. Only two more ports left, and we will making that long sailing back to San Diego. Where has the time gone??? Bill & Mary Ann

Report #68 Saturday November 11, 2023 Day #1 In Papeete, Tahiti 8am-Over Night Docked Port Side To The Pier Sunny With Clouds 85 Degrees Part #1 Of 4.......74 Pictures---Casual Dress Well here we are in Tahiti and the capital of French Polynesia, Papeete. Up very early, we watched as the Volendam sailed into the busy harbor. Although it was cloudy, there was no rain, so that was a plus. The Captain turned the ship around, backed in, and docked port side this time. We think the reason for a certain side for docking has a lot to do with loading supplies and probably taking on fuel and water. Normally, we are nose-in, but not so today. This is better for us, because we will have a view of the town for two days now. So here is a little update on what we learned about French Polynesia. There are a total of 280,000 inhabitants, living on 118 islands, on 5 archipelagos measuring 5.5 million square miles. How’s that for massive numbers? Most of the population here between Tahiti and Moorea as it is the administrative and economic center of the country. Described as having majestic villages, fabulous lagoons, volcanic mountains, restored ancient sites, hiking trails and even world-class surfing, what is not to like about visiting here? Once again, it is all about the water, beaches, boating, snorkeling and diving as well. There was one big problem, however, and that was today happened to be Armistice Day in France and a holiday here. And because of that most everything in town was closed. We did not realize this until we ran into our good buddies who came back steaming from finding the Municipal Market closed down tight. We all agreed we should have been told that it was a holiday, but it did not happen, even when the staff onboard learned about it, nothing was announced. In our way of thinking, had they known shops and cafes were closed today, the shore excursions could have sold a lot more tours. Like duh? And with tomorrow being Sunday, most things would be closed again. Going back months ago, perhaps HAL could have re-adjusted the itinerary getting us here on weekdays and not a holiday and a Sunday. But hey, what do we know? Of course we still went off of the ship around 11am, and headed towards town, via Vaiete Square where the food trucks would be located later in the evening. The new terminal building looks almost completed now, but is still not opened. Most of the square is closed off with a cement wall, and appeared reduced in size. Our first stop after crossing the main street was at the information office. At least they were opened and also had excellent city maps and the Tahiti and Moorea Travel Guide for 2023. From there, we strolled the main street finding most of the shops and pharmacies closed. A few street vendors had tables of souvenirs set up outside the closed businesses. They had plenty of customers with the cruise ship guests that were not on tours. Speaking of which, there were seven excursions offered today and tomorrow as well. A west coast tour for 4 hours was $130, and the east coast one for 2 ½ hours was $100. We have done both in the past. A 4 hour 4x4 thrilling adventure was $120, and a lagoon discovery was $140 for 3 hours. Lagoon cruising was 3 hours for $140 while the Ohana Catamaran swim for 3 hours was $140. A sunset sail with a refreshment for 2 hours was $140. That seems to be the magic price. So we headed past the fabric store that has sold us so many yards to make blouses, but they were shut down. Just as well, as one of us already has enough forever. The big Marche or Municipal market was a ghost town….totally empty of shoppers, vendors, and cars vying for a parking spot. The outside tables were void of everything we usually see. Only some kids and a few homeless guys were laying around doing nothing since it was a holiday. What did we miss at the Marche? Besides the outside tables of black pearls and shell jewelry, we missed the fruit and veggie offerings which included breadfruit, taro, sweet potatoes, bananas (hope the ship get some today), pineapples, limes and mangoes. The fish section always sells tuna, mahi mahi, swordfish, parrotfish and red snapper. There are aisles of woven baskets, hats, monoi oil products, seasonings, and tropical flowers. On the second level are the higher end jewelry shops and clothing stores. They even have a small café upstairs that is popular with the ship guests. We always buy flowers, and take loads of pictures. Not happening today though. By the way, they do not accept credit cards here we were told. Cash only – Pacific French francs and US dollars work well. Walking across the street, we went to the Notre Dame Cathedral (1875), the Catholic church always open. Today, it was locked up tight. Perhaps tomorrow it will be opened for Sunday masses. Perhaps we might hear some of the participants singing during the service. Guess what was opened for business? McDonalds of course. There were people dining outside as well as driving through for take-away. Smart move for everyone. Now came a big surprise. The outdoor pavilion and the gardens of the French Polynesian Assembly were opened to the public. It has been a few years since we have been able to visit here. The Assembly Garden and the Queen’s pond are around the back and accessed by following the rocked pathway. The High Commissioner’s residence is adjacent to this garden, but well fenced off. Paul Gauguin’s banyan tree is planted there as well as a monument of General de Gaulle, but they are also located behind the tall fencing. The garden has ponds that always housed eels…very large eels, but we could not find any today. Among the almost ready to bloom water lilies were small fish and some koi carp. There are a few benches to relax here and lots of shade from the mature trees. Not many people had discovered this garden yet, so we had it almost to ourselves. At the pavilion of the Assembly building was a huge craft display with tables full of shell jewelry, woven hats, baskets, and artistic pieces of shell-decorated branches and trees. Some of the pieces were quite pricey as were the heavy shell necklaces. With so many tables of trinkets, you would thing we could locate a matching pair of purple shell earrings for the necklace we bought in Mo’orea. Nope not one set was right. There were far more necklaces, bracelets, and even rings, and the least amount of earrings. Looking closer at the locals, we noticed they did not wear earrings. They did wear tattoos well though. While we perused the treasures, we listened to the band and singers that were entertaining the customers. We had stayed for at least an hour, happy to have found something opened. Crossing the street, we went into Bougainville Park to take more photos of the trees , flowers, and meandering creeks. There were no eels here as well. They must have been removed. There may have been a memorial there today because the cannons of the Zelee and Seeadler ships were under a tent with a pillar of names near the bust of Bougainville, one of the early discoverers. From here we continued walking up the boulevard to find the biggest disappointment of the day – La Pizzeria was closed for the holiday. No delicious Hawaiian pizza for us today, or tomorrow for that matter. They are always closed on Sundays. Darn….. Passing the Evangelical Church, we crossed over to Paofai Park and Gardens along the waterfront. Recalling seeing friends Rich and Peg dining at a nice-looking café called Le Moana along the harbor, we took a chance and went up the steps to check out their menu. Surprisingly, it was not really crowded yet even though it was past noontime. We ordered two large pints of Blonde Hinano draft beers, which went down easy. There were many fish items on the menu as one might expect, but there were also burgers. So we had a cheeseburger with fries to share. They were generous with the fries and glad they were since they were piping hot. Topping it off, we ordered one dessert of profiteroles, and they were wonderful as some folks walking by us agreed. Time to head back to the ship, we got back walking the waterfront park by 3pm. Sure was nice cooling off in the air-conditioned ship. Of course, it was a perfect time to process those photos and work on reports. The one Kindle we own was not able to be updated since there was no wifi at the restaurant. From our veranda, we could watch the activity on the waterfront as well as the city traffic. Kept us occupied until it was time for the sun to set after 6pm. Going to the front on deck six, we joined a small number of folks doing the same as us….catching the last rays of the sun. There was a wide band of dark clouds on the horizon, so the sunset was not a great one. We took photos anyway. Checking out the night roulette area at Vaiete Square, we saw only one or two trucks. Perhaps that was not happening at all tonight. Time for dinner, we found the dining rooms almost empty. We think it was due to the fact that there was one local show in the World Stage at 8pm with Mana – The Spirit of Tahiti – singers and dancers and musicians. They always command a good crowd. However, it was right in the middle of our dinner time, and being that we have seen the show many times, we enjoyed the quick and excellent service tonight. We ordered the crispy spring rolls which Mario served with the extra sweet and sour sauce we like. So good, they could have been our main tonight. The Caesar salad was skimpy, so the chefs had not accessed the new lettuce yet. One of us ordered the veal parmigiana with linguine and the other an Asian dish of sukiyaki with sliced beef. Both were good and not too much. Desserts were a little cheesecake with sliced strawberries (no sugar added) and one hot fudge sundae. Just in case the cheesecake was too small, Mario brought over another sundae, which we split. Not that we needed it, Mario and Risman always worry we don’t have enough. Trust us, we are doing fine in the dining department. We are overnight here, and have not decided what we will do tomorrow. Whatever that may be, it will involve walking for sure. Bill & Mary Ann

Greetings fellow readers! As far as we know the Intercontinental Resort in Mo'orea is not going to open any time soon. We were told by locals that all of the bungalows have been stripped of everything. So sad as it was the nicest place where you could have a good lunch and have full use of the beach complimentary. We think the condition of the Volendam is very good, but then we have had no plumbing problems. We have been on decks one and six, and still had no issues, with the exception of poor internet reception on deck six. Thanks for sharing the wonderful memories of your visit years ago to French Polynesia, cruising grandma. Also thanks for the extra research on the correct spelling of Opunohu Bay. HAL has been spelling it wrong for years now. Bill & Mary Ann

Report #67 Friday November 10, 2023 Huahine, French Polyneisa Anchored In Maroe Bay 8am-6pm Cloudy And Hot 85 Degrees With Some Sun Very Humid Part #1 Of 5.......66 Pictures---Casual Dress It doesn’t happen often, but today’s port of Huahine is a new one for us. So what can we expect? According to the Island Travel Guide, this particular island has maintained its rural lifestyle, sort of off of the beaten track as far as tourism is concerned. “Authentic” is the word used to describe the few towns and villages on these two islands. Actually, Huahine consists of two islands….one is Huahine Nui and the other Huahine Iti, connected by a bridge and enclosed in one big lagoon and coral reefs. Together, the island is 10 miles long and 8 miles wide. There is a total of 6075 native and the main village is Fare. Together the islands are 74 square kilometers with a total circumference of 95 kilometers. Mt. Turi is the highest point at 669 meters or 2200 feet in elevation. The Volendam sailed through the opening of the reef and into Maroe Bay where the anchor was dropped. It was going to be one very hot and humid day as it was already 84 degrees at 8am. There was barely a breeze. We went off to breakfast like always, and had a visitor, Nancy, who showed us photos she just took of a few cows standing in the water. From one photographer to another, she got a big laugh with these shots. Of course, we had to take some when we got back to the room. Even the cows were laid back. There were a few shore excursions here beginning with two 3 hour tours to a pearl farm, vanilla plantation, and a marae (temple) for $100. The second one was a ride to sacred sites and places, followed by a coral garden snorkel and a 4 wheel drive safari – both also $100. Another 4 x 4 ride and snorkel was $120 for 3 ½ hours and a lagoon and motu picnic for $160 for 3 ½ hours. There were no regular tour buses here, just open-air wooden school buses or le trucks. And today was a tender port once again. We stayed onboard until 11am, then ventured down to the tender platform for the 10 to 15 minute boat ride to shore on Huahine Iti. At the old concrete pier, there was a welcome band, and a local gal handing out tiare blossoms to every guest. The pier market consisted of a table or two of trinkets and across the road was a restaurant by the name of Rauheama Snack, which was closed. Restrooms were there as well. An added bonus was seeing the many tropical fish swimming right around and under the concrete pier. We got good photos without getting wet. We boarded a waiting school bus knowing there would only be two available since today was a school day. Later on, there were a total of five trucks. The ride took us across a bridge that spanned the two islands and north towards the town of Fare. It was a 20 minute ride through dense forest jungle roads and island housing….some nice, some very old and rusting. Views of many growing areas for fresh produce were here and there as well as in the local backyards. Vanilla is a crop grown here along with pineapples, coconuts, and taro root and yams. Watermelons and cucumbers do well as do avocados and mangoes of course. We could have sworn we saw a small netted plantation of marijuana plants along the roadside in someone’s private garden. Going too fast, we did not get a picture. After the free bumpy ride with scenic views, we arrived to Fare, a quaint village with one of everything folks need here. Like one supermarket, bank, pharmacy, a few cafes, and shops. Once off of the school bus, we walked the main street looking for a suitable place for beers. By now, it was noontime, and every place was full of customers. Those cafes that had some available tables were rather seedy-looking. Heading back to the bus stop, there was the recommended Huahine Yacht Club, but obviously over-whelmed with ship guests. No way were we going to wait for a table, since it appeared most people were “parked” for the day. The recommended sandy beach behind this café was flooded with the high tide….no sandy beach until the tide went out. The few souvenir tables had shell jewelry but twice the price of what was sold in Mo’orea. We figured that it was best to go back to the comfort of the ship and have lunch and ice cold sodas there. On the way back, we passed a broken-down school bus with many guests standing along the roadside. Don’t know what happened, but they were stranded and no other bus stopped to help out. We took on the majority of guests and squeezed tight on the benches made for little kids. Now we hoped our bus would not break down. At this point we were close to the tender landing and we could have walked the rest of the way if need be. There were two boats waiting to load guests, and we got on the second one. We guess there were twelve of us, so many seats were empty. We took the seats in the center next to the opening where there was a breeze. A strange lady came and sat right next to us….we mean right next to. For heaven sakes, the entire back was empty. But we did not say anything. She talked incessantly and asked nosy questions, most of which we had to ignore. When she started coughing, the ride was about over and it couldn’t have been too soon. Perhaps due to the heat and several days of activity, many folks are getting cranky. In addition to that, there are some older people that should assess their capabilities before trying to leave the ship. One such elderly lady barely made it up the steep stairs to the upper platform. No one, not even security staffers, made a move to help her either. If she happened to fall backwards, she would have taken out at least six people behind her. We were back by 1:30pm and ready for that room service lunch of salads and a shared panini. While relaxing on the veranda, we saw the peaks cover over with clouds. Eventually those passing clouds dropped some driving rain which was most welcomed. It cooled the air off nicely. It came down hard enough to hear it hitting the water in the bay. Captain Paul came on with his daily talk and said we had 105 miles to Tahiti from here and going 8 knots will get us there early tomorrow morning. He said the winds were 15 knots and the temperatures should be 82 degrees. What was not mentioned was the fact that Papeete is expecting up to 70% chance of rain on Saturday. Even more on Sunday. Oh well, that’s what the umbrellas are for. And the best part is we are docked….no tenders for two days. Dinner was good. We had cold Vietnamese wraps with pork and hoisin sauce…small but very tasty. One of us ordered the shrimp quesadilla appetizer, and the Weiner schnitzel. It appeared the serving of the pork had been cut in half, as they were probably running low on it. The other entrée was rigatoni with chicken meatballs and covered with a marinara sauce. All good. Desserts were a hot fudge sundae and chocolate chip ice cream. The dining room was half full. Showtime featured The Knights, a singing group with their final performance. We noticed that some folks had attended the 7:30pm show, then came to dinner at 8:30pm. Anything goes in both levels of the dining room these days. “Fixed seating” really means nothing. The guests are seated where there are waiters available we guess. Bill & Mary Ann

Report #66 Thursday November 9, 2023 Day #2 Anchored In Bahia d' Opunohu, Mo'orea, French Polynesia Sail Out At 6pm Enroute To Huahine Partly Cloudy 85 Degrees Part #1 Of 3......74 Pictures----Casual Dress Day two in Mo’orea started off even warmer than yesterday. There were fewer clouds, more sun, and less wind. It might be nice for picture-taking, but this humid heat makes you “melt”. We had a big treat after leaving breakfast around 8:30am. Going down to the promenade deck, we saw some dolphins jumping in the distance near the moored sailboats. They began appearing in larger numbers, and put on quite a show jumping and even spinning like the big spinner dolphins. They must have been feeding as they do in the early part of the day. Before we knew it, a few dolphin-watching tour boats arrived and they had the dolphins following the boats as they sailed in a big circle very slowly. What spoiled the activity were 5 jet-ski people that sped around the pod and the boats, sending the pod elsewhere, not to be seen again until later when they were not bothered. At least we were able to see them frolicking, happy in their element. We doubt we could have gotten better pictures if we were in those boats. Simply the luck of the draw. We were in no hurry to go to shore, and we took advantage of the time working on the computer. We were scheduled to have our carpet cleaned between 10:30am and 2pm, although we did not have to leave the room. According to the notice we got last night, it would take 10 minutes for the shampooing and it would be under the supervision of a housekeeping officer. We gathered our stuff at the same time we had the knock on the door. Perfect timing. Once off of the tender boat, we headed to our lady friend’s table to search for matching earrings for the necklace we bought yesterday. Matching the purple shell was impossible. Actually none of the vendors had that particular shell in their creations. That will give one of us something to look for tomorrow in Huahine. Being that it was so much warmer today, we decided to take a shorter walk, but turning left at the intersection this time. Even checking what was available up that way online , it appeared that there was little in the way of restaurants or shops. We had hiked this way many years ago, but had forgotten what we saw. Truthfully, it was much the same as turning right yesterday. Shoreline homes with green gardens and plenty of mango and breadfruit trees. One house had a side lot full of banana trees. About a mile or two up the road, we found the road that goes up to Magic Mountain or a good lookout with a vigorous hike straight up. We have been up to Belvedere Lookout many times, but this one is closer to the ship. We had heard that someone would collect a fee to go through a gate on private property. Sure enough, a lady came out of a house/roadside shop, to collect 200 Pacific French francs or $2 US dollars. She laughed when we said no thanks – it was way too hot for that climb today. Best to leave it to the youngsters onboard (crew members). She agreed it was too warm, and gladly went back to her chair in the shade of a tree. By now it was after 12pm and a good time for a beer. Right next to this side road was a place called Fare Tutava. It appeared to be a take-away counter, but was in fact an outdoor eatery with picnic tables under the shade of a roof and plenty of trees. Studying the menu, we saw they served beer, so we took a table for two and ordered two bottles of ice cold Hinanos. Perfect. Most of their food items were fish, but they did have burgers and fries. We shared one and saved room for a dessert. There was a bit of a language problem, since the waitress spoke more French than we could understand. Showing us a dessert menu, we indicated a banana split would be fine. She said OK and took off, coming back with a wooden monkeypod bowl in the shape of a pineapple with the banana split. It was vanilla ice cream with rum-cooked bananas, topped with whipped cream, and sprinkled with coconut. Good thing we were sharing. Part of the screening for the outdoor restaurant were island pareos hanging on clotheslines. Of course, some of them were very pretty, and we ended up buying one on the way out. It is a piece of clothing I use all summer at home, and have to admit the collection is growing. We headed back to the pier, stopping in the shade of the old mango and breadfruit trees. Frangipanis scented the air, but so did the several fires that created smoke. One of the first times we sailed into Bora Bora, we noticed the smoke coming from the shoreline. It smelled pungent, so we thought they were firing up the BBQ’s. Nope…it turned out to be burning of the dried leaves and trimmings from the jungle foliage. Upon a closer look, we saw piles alongside the road where eventually they would dispose of the trimmings with fire. Good thing the mountains and valleys are so green, or these islands could burn up like what happened in Lahaina this year. One other observation we made while sailing away this evening was that many more fires were creating thick smoke everywhere. It is possible the smoke helps keep the biting bug population under control, especially at dusk. We are still trying to figure out the correct spelling for the bay we are anchored in. Is it Bahia d’ Opunoha or Opunohu, as it is spelled locally? If it is in fact Opunohu, then HAL has been spelling it wrong for several years. Perhaps one of our readers has the answer. We got back to the ship by 2pm, and chilled out in our room until we left the bay. Opunohu Bay to be exact. Captain Paul came on the speakers at 5pm, and said the ship had been at anchor and spinning on the it for two days. That saves fuel since they did not have to use the engines to stabilize our position. We have 82 nautical miles to reach Huahine tomorrow at a speed of 6 knots. The seas have calmed down and the sailing was smooth. We are now heading northwest where we had an excellent view of the sunset at 6:10pm. The Captain even came back on the speakers to remind the guests to look out a window to see that dramatic sun go down on the horizon. Tomorrow’s port will be a new one for us, and many other guests and crew. Having TV access to the port talk given by Kimberly really is a help with a new stop. Having saved a local tour booklet from last year’s cruise has been invaluable for information. Dinner was in the dining room with one order of chicken noodle soup and a pork belly appetizer. The salads have been skimpy, so we will wait until Papeete before we order one. Mains were the beef bourguignon meal with roasted fingerling potatoes and carrots with pearl onions. Very tasty and tender, we ate all of it. Our waiter, Mario, was a bit under the weather according to Risman, so we had a new man take over tonight. We think standing in the heat on the pier got to Mario yesterday. Just too warm. Desserts were one bowl of coffee ice cream with chocolate syrup and an orange-flavored panna cotta. Small, but just the right size. By the way, we thought we might add that there are Morimoto specials every evening on the menu. They offer Epice lobster tails with lemon foam and veggies for $25. And fresh halibut with Asian veggies, dried shrimp, and a scallop sauce for $25 was the other choice. Bill & Mary Ann

Report #65 Wednesday November 8, 2023 Bahia d' Opunoha, Mo'orea, French Polynesia 8am- Over Night Overcast And Hot 80 Degrees With Some Sun Part #1 Of 4......77 Pictures----Casual Dress Today’s port of call was the island of Mo’orea, belonging to The Society Islands and part of the Windward group. Yesterday’s islands of Raiatea and Taha’a, along with Bora Bora belong to the Leeward group. As it turns out, we will be at anchor in Opunohu Bay for two full days, right next to Cook’s Bay. Mo’orea is considered another most beautiful island in the world with emerald green cliffs, stunning lagoons, and many quiet beaches. There are about 16,000 inhabitants who have a slow pace of living. The weather almost dictates how fast the locals move since it tends to be warm, humid, and rainy at certain times of the year. And today was no exception with overcast skies, which cleared by the afternoon, before clouding up again. Naturally, we need to take the tenders to shore at Papeotai, located next to one of the oldest churches in French Polynesia. Built by missionaries in 1870, they happened to build it over a very important archaeological site, losing the artifacts forever it is said. The fun part about this tender drop off has to be the extended buildings with roofs that house several local vendors. There is a little bit of everything like island jewelry, clothing, some food stands, and even some black South Seas pearls. The ships tour group join their boats or buses and vans there. If you did not book a tour onboard, there are always excursions to take from the locals. Several taxis and mini vans are available to go to restaurants or resorts and beaches. Expect to pay dearly for these rides, we have been advised. So here are some of the ship’s excursions. A lagoon cruise in two bays runs $60 for 1½ hours. You can take a 4- wheel drive adventure for 3½ hours for $100, or for the same amount of time, you can do the island drive and Belvedere lookout for $100. A 3¾ hour highlight drive will run $110, while a snorkel safari for 3 hours will be $100. A motu picnic and ray feeding is 5 hours for $180. Or the locals offer a 2- hour minivan tour to Belvedere lookout, a marae temple, a pineapple plantation, vanilla garden, jam tasting, a distillery, and a stop at Cook’s Bay – all for $40. A similar local tour for 3 hours is $50 per person. As for us, we stayed onboard working on yesterday’s photos, then left the ship by 10:45am. The ride was quick and easy thanks to the fact the wind had died down and the waters were smooth. The first stop was at a craft table with the local elderly lady we have known for years. She does not speak English much, and we do not speak French well, but we always have luck finding one of her seashell creations to purchase. She even took the time to get the necklace on correctly, as I chose to wear it. The collection is growing….. Our goal was to take a long hike to enjoy the sights along the waterfront road. The ultimate goal was finding a restaurant that would be opened today. For some reason they tend to close on Wednesdays. The Intercontinental Hotel, about a three- mile walk, has been shut down, abandoned, going on three years now. Another fun place for lunch was Holy Steak House, but they were not opened today. We had already passed a small lagoon side café that was filled with locals at noon. It was an option if nothing else presented itself. Later on, we found out from friends that this roadside café did not take credit cards…only cash. And we are not sure if they took US dollars. Remember to ask before dining. Highlights of our slow walk took us through the village of Papeotai where there were some mini roadside cafes, tiny supermarkets, a hardware shop, hair salons in local homes, and beachside houses. School kids were out on a walkabout as their teachers led them back to the school along the lagoon. From watching the increased local traffic and a few buses, we came to the conclusion that the school takes a long lunch break, then resumes a few hours later. Besides the church at the tender pier, there was another one – Catholic by the name of St. Michael’s Chapel. Many small businesses offered scooter and bike rentals, and possibly cars and 4-wheel dive vehicles. Most are within walking distance of the tender pier. Several of the local residents were busy selling fruit from stands on the road. That included a whole lot of mangoes (in season), pineapples, small & large bananas, melons, papaya, guava, and squash of all kinds. Small tables had been set up outside some homes where they were giving away the over-abundance we assume. No one was present to take money. We have to add that it is wise to do some homework before going off blindly, although not all of the info is updated. We discovered that if we continued walking the road past the Intercontinental bungalows over the water, now closed, we might come across a place called Taoahere Beach House Snack. Eventually we found a road sign advertising this eatery and an arrow pointing right. We walked down a very private street with really nice homes that were gated and fenced. This road continued down towards the lagoon, but still we found no signs. Just by luck, we came across a nice lady who was waiting outside a solid fence door for a taxi to arrive. We asked her where that restaurant was located, and she said right here. That’s when we noticed the small sign on the door. Happy we found it, she described the food and drinks and highly recommended it. Good enough for us, we needed to go no further. Walking past the resort part of the property, we reached the water where there was an open-air patio with several tables. This was perfect. Eventually, we ordered a cheeseburger with fries to share, and large two Hinano beers. It took a little longer than we expected to get our food, but we had no specific time to be back. Remember, we were overnighting here. While we dined, we got to watch the many boats with snorkelers in the massive lagoon area. We were close enough to the water, we could see tropical fish of all sizes just about right under our feet. People were even kayaking past the café. Then the best was to arrive – a dessert of profiteroles filled with vanilla ice cream, drizzled with a chocolate sauce, and sprinkled with chopped nuts. It was quite a treat, and a dessert we always look for while in French Polynesia. A group of crew members, including several front desk people and Arnold, the Mariner rep, wandered into the restaurant. They had taken a taxi, and the driver had recommended this place to them. They had more fun taking photos of each other before their food arrived. It’s always nice to see crew members out and about in these ports. Even though they have less time to explore, they know how to make the best of the time they have. All good things come to an end, and we had to start back to the pier at 2pm. By now, the clouds had blown away and the sun was out. It was hot, but there was a breeze. We rode back to the ship with a super good friend, recalling a story of her stuck- on- the- reef tender boat ride last year. We were back at the tender port at3:30 and onboard by 3:45pm, and ready to work on photos and relax on the cool veranda. Before we knew it, dinnertime had arrived. We had small Caesar salads, because we think they are running out of lettuce. One of us had the Mexican chicken soup and the other had the Thai beef salad. Both on the spicy side. Mains were one plate of BBQ baby back ribs (which arrived with 6 ribs) and one fettucine with a shredded roast beef Bolognaise sauce. Desserts were a rum cake with vanilla ice cream and a plate of pineapple slices. There was a movie, The Bounty, in the World Stage at 8pm, but we suspect most folks were done in tonight and called it a day. We know we did. One more day in Mo’orea, but we are not sure what we will do. Many people we talked to said they were staying onboard. Bill & Mary Ann

Report #64 Tuesday November 7, 2023 Uturoa, Raiatea French Ploynesia Docked Starboard Side To Pier 8am-5:30pm Sunny And Very Windy- Sea State Rough Part #1 Of 5.......77 Pictures---Casual Dress Waking up at the ridiculous time of 5am, we found that we were sailing past the island of Bora Bora, an unscheduled trek, probably requested of Captain Paul by many of the passengers. Being that we had that port cancelled a few months ago, at least we might be able to see it from a distance. Honestly, at that time of the morning, it was too dark for good photos. And it was also very wet outside on our veranda due to the heavy mist coming at us from the waves below. Once the sun began to rise, we could make out the outline of the mountain peaks and the surrounding motus and lagoons. We have been most fortunate to having visited this island paradise numerous times over the years, and always marvel at the scenery. It has been described as having scintillating lagoons of blue, turquoise, to sapphire waters – a quintessential tropical dream. Only 5½ miles, long and 2½ miles wide, this 7- million- year- old island is home to 10,550 residents. The two tallest peaks are Mt. Otemanu at 2385 feet and Mt. Pahia at 2168 feet in elevation. Once the clouds cleared we could see the tops of those famous peaks. The main village is Vaitape, where we would have tendered from the bay. Unless we come here on a smaller ship, we will not visit here again any time too soon. Just as we turned and passed the island, a partial rainbow appeared, like the island was thumbing her nose at us. Our planned destination for today was the island of Raiatea with a population of 12,250 people. This island consists of 238 square kilometers with a total circumference of 98 kilometers. Their highest peak is Mt. Tefatoaiti at 1017 meters in elevation and the island is only about 3 million years old. It is home to the largest marae (sacred terraced temple) in French Polynesia, called Taputapuatea, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. And the island has the only navigable river in Polynesia called the Faaroa River. When we visit here, you get two -for- one since the closest neighboring island to Raiatea is Taha’a. This smaller island of 5235 natives has a land area of 88 square kilometers with a circumference of 67 kilometers. Mont Ohiri is the tallest peak at 598 meters high. After leaving Bora Bora behind, we entered the lagoon of Taha’a through one large opening and sailed the inner lagoon of the smaller island for a while. Lucky for us, all of the scenery was on the port side. Taha’a is known as the vanilla islands with 8 villages, numerous guest houses, and resorts. As much as ¾ of the vanilla production come from Taha’a and closeby Huahine. A specialized sugar cane grown here has given rise to rum production gaining a worldwide reputation. This island will be one of the destinations for shore excursions as it shares the lagoon with Raiatea. And speaking of tours, here are some that were offered today. Starting with Raiatea, there was a 3 ½ hour highlight drive for $120, and a sacred island drive in Le Truck for 3 ½ hours for $90. There was a drive up the Faaro River with a beach break for 3 hours for $100 or a 3 ½ hour kayak adventure for $120. The rest of the excursions went to Taha’a. For $160 you could taste vanilla and have a motu picnic for 3 ½ hours. We have done the drift snorkel for 3 ½ hours for $160, or there was Taha’a discovery and motu by catamaran also 3 ½ hours for $120. Last but not least, you could visit a pearl farm then snorkel, a 3 hour tour for $130. We noticed that several of these tours were morning times, and also available in the early afternoon. After breakfast, we worked on photos until almost 11 am, then headed off of the ship for a long walk. We had missed the welcoming band and the handing out of the tiare flower buds. These native flowers are grown primarily on Raiatea, since it is the ideal climate for them. It was a pleasant 77 degrees outside with broken clouds and a wind of 24 mph. Most everyone lost their hats when they exited the gangway on the pier. The winds were that strong. At least it did not rain like it did last year. Following the road to the right, we passed the small boat marina where the tours were beginning to take off. Further up this road was the large vessel marina, followed by a public area with a pool-like setting. This is the setting for the Hawaiki Nui Va’a, the famous international outrigger canoe race. We have been here on past trip when this was in the middle of happening. It was exciting to see the competitors and their boats. Early in May of this year, the 19th edition of the Tahiti Pearl Regatta took place in this same park. Relaxing on a nice cement bench there, we could see the outline of Bora Bora from here. Many other ship guests were doing the same as us. We headed back passing one of the many churches and stopping in the Catholic one nearer to town. We did take the time to pass through the produce market, and climbed the stairs to the second level where most of the souvenirs were displayed. Prices were higher than last years, but we were not surprised as French Polynesia is known for being pricey. It was already 1pm, and beer sounded great. Back at the cruise terminal is a place called La Raie Gate, an open-air café that serves draft beer and a very good pizza among other specialities. The French Polynesians sure have a way with baking the best bread and today was no exception. We ordered a pepperoni pizza and two beers, sitting directly across from the ship. It was a short walk back, and it was still windy. And of course, the rest of the afternoon was spent working on pictures and reports. Since we were docked with the view of the water, it was fun watching the crazy guys with their kite boards. With strong winds, sometimes these fellows were 20 feet up in the air with small motor boats speeding under them. Sharing the lagoon were kayakers and tour boats of all sizes. We had forgotten that at 4pm, the local officials were presenting a special plaque to Captain Paul for the Volendam. They usually do this for a maiden port, but we shall have to inquire what the occasion was. Captain Paul reported that there was a nice ceremony impressing all that participated and watched. Before 6pm, he had turned the ship around, and headed back the same way we had come in. This gave the starboard folks the chance to see what they missed this morning. We still claim we got way better pictures this morning because the light was by far better. Sunset was 6:15pm, and it looked promising for a while, then it fizzled. Too many thick dark clouds on the horizon hid the sinking sun. Our biggest event was getting another President’s Club amenity of Coke Zeros and flowers, which arrived after dinner. We did not expect them since it appears most all of the fresh flowers around the ship are gone now. This bouquet was full of proteas which will last until we reach San Diego. Dinner was in the Pinnacle Grill with our usual wedge salads, double dressings, and savory clothesline bacon. Warm rolls are always served with two types of toppings. One is a garlic butter and the other is a red bell pepper and cream cheese spread. Our mains were lamb chops, skinny fries, and one loaded baked potato. We shared a Baked Alaska, just right for two. Other than us, there were a total of four guests dining at 7:30pm this evening. Guess with such active tours today, the folks turned in early. Showtime was supposed to be a vocalist and pianist, Lisa Harman, but in her place, were the Biddys. Ready for another early start to the day tomorrow with scenic cruising into Moorea beginning at 6:30am. Not sure both of us will be viewing that one. Bill & Mary Ann

Report #63 Monday November 6, 2023 Sea Day Enroute To Uturoa, Raiatea French Polynesia Sunny With Clouds And Very Windy 30 Knots, Sea State: 8'-9' Swells Part #1 Of 1.......0 Pictures The days are flying by rapidly now as we approach French Polynesia. Beginning tomorrow, we will be looking to seven consecutive days in port, a most busy time for all. So today was a kick-back one to get ready for a week of exploring. We had hoped that the seas might have calmed down on our way east, but it appears that they have gotten even rougher. The ship has been maintaining a speed of 12 knots, but we still have a lot of pitching and rolling. We suspect that more than a few of the guests are seasick. There have been far fewer folks dining for breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill, which really is good for the rest of us regulars. Our coffee cups never go empty. The winds increased as well, and the temperature was no higher than 75 degrees. When we woke up, our veranda was wet, even though it did not rain last night that we were aware of. The moisture was coming from the mist off of the waves and blowing like a fine rain on the portside. The promenade deck was soaked on the port side as well, so the folks in the Lanai rooms could not comfortably sit on their private lounges. We did at least a mile walk this morning but gave up. We could always come back later when there were fewer walkers. There seems to be a certain group early in the morning that treat the deck like it is “roller derby” time. Usually they are only good for a few laps around, then go inside by 10am when there is a lecture in the World Stage. It was so windy at the Seaview Pool that the chairs were blowing over. Guess we could call the wind blustery, sending the empty lounges skittering across the deck. The umbrellas were tied up, so there was no fear of them falling over. We get a kick out of the guests that think they can eat lunch out there. In a short time, we could see lettuce and chips flying by us, sending the diners back inside. While we were sitting relaxing in the partly sunny and cloudy skies, Captain Paul appeared. It seems he was on deck nine, and came down to chat with one of our friends. He slowly made his way around the back deck, stopping to say hi to about everyone. He had just announced that tomorrow morning at 5am, he will be sailing close to Bora Bora, the long- ago cancelled island. At least we might be able to see it even if we are not allowed to anchor there this time. At least we hope to see it if the sun will be up by then. The island of Bora Bora is so close to Raiatea that it can be seen from that island, so it isn’t that much out of the way. Apparently, many passengers asked the Captain if that could be done, since it was a huge disappointment that we were not allowed to go there because our numbers are over 1200 guests. And he kindly said OK. We asked which side of the ship would be on the dockside, and he said that was still being worked out with the local authorities. If it is allowed, we hope to be sailing on the way out in the shared lagoon between Raiatea and Taha’a, their neighboring island. It is quite scenic….so fingers crossed we do it. On the way back to our room, we stopped off for Cannonball burgers at The Dive In Grill. There was no line, and the food was ready within 10 minutes tops. We have given up the fries, since we don’t need the extra calories. Sitting on our veranda, we actually needed sweatshirts since the mist was still there keeping the floor wet. We do recall that last year when we visited Raiatea, it rained. It rained in every port off and on throughout French Polynesia. Just part of the experience and the luck of the draw. Dinner time found the dining room spotty with customers. The anytime dining downstairs was almost empty, although the tables for two upstairs seem to get filled most evenings. It does not affect our dining service at all. But we did have a little mishap this evening when a full glass of ice water was spilled on one of us and the center of the table. You know how the glasses sweat? Well our most embarrassed waiter went to move a full glass, and it slipped. We felt bad for him since he must have apologized a hundred times. They used a bunch of napkins to sop up the water, which was mostly on the table and one of our laps. Thank goodness it was not red wine. That did happen a few years ago when a waitress spilled a whole tray of red wine glasses…… all over both of us and at a pre-cocktail party with the Captain at that time. That was far worse although we were both wearing black that night, since it was a dressy evening. Anyway, we had Caesar salads, no anchovies, and mains of chicken cordon blu. There was a penne pasta entrée, so we asked for some of that on the side. It was a great combination. Desserts were a lemon meringue cheesecake and a plate of savory pineapple once again. Have to turn in early this evening to get up at 5am…or least one of us will be up. The entertainment in the show lounge was a movie, The Descendants, which most folks have seen more than once we suspect. Bill & Mary Ann

Report #62 Sunday November 5, 2023 Rarotonga, Cook Islands 6am-11am Circle Island To Rough To Tender Mostly Sunny With Some Clouds 72 Degrees Sea State 12' Swell 30 Knot Wind Part #1 Of 2....77 Pictures----Casual Dress Well, here we go again, or should we say here we do not go again? Shortly after leaving Aitutaki yesterday, we encountered rough seas again. It only got worse during the night, as our friends told us, with the waves hitting the bow and causing white-out spray. So much so, it lit up their whole room. We used to love seeing that from our deck one room. It is much more impressive close-up. As you might guess, the port of Avatiu, Rarotonga was cancelled. Before we went to our 7:30am breakfast, Captain Paul came on the speakers everywhere, including the staterooms, and announced that he would give it his best shot, but things were not looking good for today’s tendering. We have heard that some guests start lining up at the Ocean Bar well before 7am to get the first tender tickets. Perhaps he was heading off that line by telling everyone without actually saying it, they may as well roll over and go back to sleep. He was going to lower a few tenders to test the swells anyway, but from what he indicated yesterday, we knew there was no way he was going to take any chances with the safety of the passengers and crew alike. During breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill, we could hear some boats being lowered to the water. By 7:45am, Captain Paul had made the decision to abandon the tendering and announced it to all. He even added that he would personally be at the front desk at 8am to answer any questions regarding that decision. And he was, along with the hotel manager, Glenn, and a security officer. This wasn’t the first time he did that, because the same situation came up with the Fanning Island day. By the time we finished breakfast, only Glenn was present at the front desk, and he was talking to a guest. With wind speeds between 6 and 7 on the Beaufort scale, and sea swells up to 12 feet at some point, we all agreed it was the only call to be made. In place of actually going there, the Captain took a counterclockwise trip around the outside of the island. Now this worked out swell for us, since the port side got the complete view. The island road is 32 kilometers, so it only took a little over an hour to complete the circle. It has been many years since we saw the west, south, and east coast, since we always walk on the north part looking for a suitable spot for lunch. One of the negative things about arriving here today was the fact it was a Sunday, and most everything would be closed. Even the circle island bus was not operating, and there would be few if any taxis available. No ship excursions had been sold either. So we were happy to get the free ride around the reefs and lagoons. Now we expected the ship to turn around to give the starboard folks the view, like we did in Fanning Island, but it did not happen. Captain Paul continued in a slightly north easterly direction, heading towards the next port in French Polynesia, Raiatea. We have 528 nautical miles to reach that lovely island on Tuesday morning. And we could expect continued swells and slightly rough seas with some pitching and rolling since we will be doing 12 knots. There were many floating clouds, but no rain at all. Most all of our day was dedicated to computer and photo work. As many sightings of birds took place yesterday as well as today, one of us had a huge amount to sort through. Sometimes to get the best of the best, it may be necessary to take many photos. Boy things have sure changed since the days of 35mm rolls of film, haven’t they? Naturally today’s itinerary had to be enhanced, adding activities that were not planned. We got the new list in the afternoon after half of the activities were over….not that we do a whole of them. Now that the stores could open up, there were many promotional things offered. A guest speaker, Lyn Yaworsky gave a lecture and Kainoa did a talk all about the Tahitian black pearls. Later in the afternoon, a third speaker, Dr. Douglas gave a speech about biodiversity. Since it was rather cool outside, room service chicken noodle soup sounded good for lunch along with a small salad and one shared sandwich and quesadilla. Surprise, surprise…the soup came with real noodles. Having mentioned that to Bayu, our head waiter, he may have mentioned it to the soup guru in the galley. Anyway, it was really good. Before we knew it, it was dinnertime. The menu had a few good choices – all different. We ordered a round of arancini, Caesar salads, and one braised beef and one sliced tenderloin, both with veggies and mashed potatoes. Both were good. Desserts were a hot fudge sundae and a plate of fresh, sweet pineapple. So refreshing and even healthy. One day at sea tomorrow, and we will be in French Polynesia, a favorite part of the world for us. Bill & Mary Ann