kej1

Update! Thank goodness we booked a few months ago a private tour to the ww2 sites in Honaria ( Guadalcanal) on May 1. I almost canceled as Seabourn sent us a flyer the other night they would do a ( third party) tour May 2 ( we have an overnight as some guests disembarking and some arriving). Well, tonight we received a flyer stating the May 2 ww2 third party tour on May 2=is canceled as the prime minister election is that day and most things are shutting down. So, we are very happy we have our 8:30 am private tmw even though it will be messy with lots of guests disembarking. Seabourn to be fair has rescheduled the third party tour for tmw ( May 1) at 3:00 pm. But glad we are going in the morning and can go where we want as my husband doesn’t like shopping which is a part of what they have scheduled. @fletcher they have told us many of these ports will not allow ship expedition tours so therefore have to be third party - some charged and some complimentary. I think they have left all the planning to the expedition staff ( many who are Antarctica people) and they are learning…. I do note that Silversea has their expedition things published in advance. - I actually used their past cruises to this region and High plains drifter’s cruise critic blog from last year to try to plan what we could do and what to expect. We have been very happy with the service and staff on board but everyone we’ve talked to is frustrated with the lack of communications and organization of the excursions piece. Hopefully things will change since this is new to them.

@cruising kirby thank try for the info on Rabaul! Although it has t been communicated yet to anyone on the ship I asked thanks to your info about it and was told “ we should” have the same options and we’d know “ the evening before”! We are going ahead with our private in Guadalcanal tomorrow but I think we will hold off a day or so on Rabaul private as it seems we should have a Seabourn option there…. Thank you and if you are told any other port excursions let us know as those of us on the pursuit are still in the dark so to speak!

@Fletcher. I am now starting to read your interesting stories about Manaus, Amazon, and now west Africa! Went down the Amazon years ago in my early 20’s out of Iquitos, Peru. We took what looked like a worn out version of the African Queen to a lodge called Explora. Bucket showers,hair never dried and mossie bites everywhere but it was beautiful and pretty untouched at that point. And I was young and didn’t care but now….couldn't do it that way again! I see why you like this part of the world. We had on,y been to Fiji and French Polynesia previously by airplane and land. This is a wonderful way to explore the area. Thinking of Kimberly and Indonesia next summer on the Pursuit again.

@FlaviaOfTheMonthsnorkeling and I think scuba were offered in Cook Islands through third parties. In Tonga in the afternoon we snorkeled and I believe there was scuba as well. In Fiji there was snorkeling and scuba on the first day in the afternoon. Not on the second day. Neither was offered in Vanuatu or on the first 3 stops of the cruise. im hoping on this second half we will have more opportunities. Again there is no schedule published and as much as we ask what’s happening we are told we will know the night prior. Since Dom, the current leader will leave tomorrow to go home I’m assuming ( hoping) there will be a replacement. all, we are on til May 15th so I’ll keep updating. Strange those getting on May 15th have some excursions to choose and we have none….maybe you can share what they are as I assume they will be similar?

Land diving yesterday was a really great experience. In fact the last few shore visits - two on Fiji and yesterday in Vanuatu were what we had come to hope for with an expedition cruise. There was a tremendous squall that started after the ROM ROM dance and many were drenched but had a really great time. So for the afternoon visit for land diving the ship moved its location ( had always planned on moving to the other island but moved the location on the other island). There was a bit of confusion as the announcement said we had switched locations and there would be after getting off the zodiacs a truck ride to a village visit. Much to my delight and others it was a truck ride to the location where you would walk up the hill to see the land diving. It was quite muddy due to the earlier rain climbing up to the land diving but the wonderful local villagers helped us all to prevent us from slipping. Overall the whole day was a highlight despite not having a snorkeling opportunity. For those that do this cruise I recommend doing both excursions if offered. Today and tomorrow are sea days. Many leaving the ship when we reach Honiara. We are so happy to be staying on! There are lots of interesting lectures during the day and typically the MDR is open for lunch on sea days although today some were turned away due to lack of staffing. ( and only about 12-15 tables seated). Those guests were asked to come back later so not turned away completely. So staffing seems to be one of the reasons the MDR is nit always open for lunch. We have had really good service so hadn’t noticed but I guess staffing is an issue for some things. Still no information on what to expect in the next leg of the cruise although someone on this forum stated they had listed shore excursions for Rabaul on the following cruise. We don't have nor can I pull up the next leg anymore on the website. I asked the expedition team and was told we’d know the evening prior which most guests I’ve spoken with and I find very frustrating. If the cruise after ours has it published I don’t understand why we are still in the dark. They did send out a flyer that there would be a tour of WW2 sites in Honaria on day 2 of our stop. It’s not too clear but maybe they will talk about it in the briefing tonight. We also saw a notice on our Seabourn source iten about a submarine on May 1st, but it’s unclear if this is just a notification that we are signed up for it on the next leg or it’s happening and we are being included. I tried to track down the expedition lead today as if so I’d likely cancel our private tour as it’s the same day and do what Seabourn has planned the next day but couldn’t find one of the expedition team members in the know. Maybe this evening I’ll find out what’s up! Again we are really enjoying the cruise but a bit more advance communication would be helpful understanding that things can be canceled last minute due to weather or other concerns. Both Honaria and Rabaul are stops with a number of cruise ships so should be possible to publish in advance unlike some of the more remote islands we recently visited.

More lectures. Good lectures we have enjoyed quite a bit.

Btw, I’m wrong we are still going to see the bungee jumping/ diving. Just from another location! Yay! Just boarding zodiac now!

Regarding today’s excursions in Vanuatu. - morning was terrific with the ROM ROM dance and village visit. It was one of the best if not the best cultural experiences. It did start to rain, a tuallly I should say pour halfway through the morning! We all came back to the ship soaked but happy for such a great experience. Due to the rain the afternoon bu gee jumping was replaced with another location and it seems like it will be another cultural experience. No snorkeling or submarine so for people on,y on this leg no submersible experience as the team could not get the right permits. We are hoping fir the Honaria to Guam leg. And hoping for more snorkeling. Regarding gear, they have masks, fins and snorkels on board. ( we brought our own masks and snorkels but are using their fins). For divers they provide weights and tanks but you must bring your own BCD, etc. I highly recommend a skin as some areas are shallow and a few people have coral “owies”. Also if you have the right skin will protect from the coral as well. Happy to have my full body skin but on,y a few of us have brought. Makes a big difference! Better than just a short rash guard for where we have been. now two sea days and then Honaria. We have a private tour booked on May 1st to see WW 2 sites. However after I asked almost every day they are now organizing something for the ship on May 2. Not sure paid or complimentary. I think we will stick with our private. I see others on the May 15 cruise have options published for Rabaul. We still have nothing even after asking so I did go ahead and book another private there to see WW2 sites as well. Not sure the disconnect as I’ve asked the expedition team several times. Maybe not the right person?

@LocoLoco1i think based on our experience so far, if you want to do a lot of diving and snorkeling unless things change so far, this isn’t the trip. But, as this is their first expedition trip to this region perhaps it will improve as I’m sure they will receive lots of feedback. Interesting the previous segment from Chile to Tahiti had several submarine trips, this has had none. We used to dive but haven’t in some time but had hoped to have a lot more snorkeling. Pre cruise at Brando we snorkeled twice a day every day right off our room. If we’d stayed longer and I’d known more about this trip we would have gone out on their boat to some of the outer reefs, They like most resorts in the region also have diving. We are having a very good time but are disappointed in the minimal amount if good snorkeling so far and lack of planning. Hopefully on this next segment there will be more snorkeling but I doubt more planning! 😎

We just received an update for tomorrow on Vanuatu. We will do two landings: 1.Ambryn island in the morning. We will see a ROM ROM dance ( I expected having read on other ship sites) and a village walk. No snorkeling or submarine. 2. Afternoon - the island famous for the bungee jumping. Again no snorkeling or sub which is disappointing to many including us but these will be very interesting experiences. The good news is they will have room to accomodate everyone who wants to go. We will go on shifts in the zodiacs. This will be followed by two sea days and then a two day stop in Honaria, Guadalcanal where some will disembark. Because we are staying on for the next segment to Guam fingers crossed we will have more snorkeling and submarine opportunities. I’m glad I made a private tour plan for Guadalcanal as when I asked today it still hasn’t been planned. These things I don’t understand as they seem pretty std, but hopefully as time goes on Seabourn will get their act together on planning! Now on to dinner! Looks like a good menu tonight with lobster, Dover sole, and some other goodies.

@frantic36 I think you could easily organize a smallish cocktail party. When we arrived our suite had every kind of alcohol I could imagine and good brands. We only drink wine so told our stewardess she could give to someone else but she insisted we keep it for a cocktail party. We haven’t done yet but may do one evening. And yes the hit tub is private and covered from deck 9. If there is a great sunset however deck 5 co had look up but once you get in they can’t see! Just cover up getting in if there are lots of peilke down below but usually they aren’t looking up any warps as they are looking out! It’s a wonderful room! We love love it!

So on my general more later…. Expedition program: Well, there wasn’t much of one until we arrived in Fiji. I think the team is very nice and friendly but a bit disorganized. I realize this is Seabourn’s furst time doing an expedition cruise in this area, but there is no reason in the ports that are frequently visited the tours could not have been published mo this on advance. And tomorrow Vanuatu? Like I said earlier the tours are pretty std on other expedition ships. And I realize they don’t know for sure about the sub and the diving in advance but why not publish other options. I think all of this has been left up to the expedition team who works like this in Antarctica where it makes sense but not all of these ports. So this has been a lowlight so far. We will see if it improves but nothing has been scheduled for Vanuatu which we visit tmw, nothing for Guadalcanal, ( glad I arranged a private here in advance), nothing for Papua New Guinea or Micronesia. I did receive the name of a private tour coming Rabaul so will set something up there as my husband doesn’t want to miss the WW2 sites in these spots and I don’t think there is a WW 2 historian on the expedition team ( maybe someone will get on in Guadalcanal or maybe someone here is that we don’t know?). Anyway for us and many others we have spoken to this is the disappointing part of the cruise. Everything else has been great but we are paying a big uplift for the “ expedition” piece and so far it really hasn’t been up to snuff IMHO. I’m hoping it improves. Trying to give feedback in a positive way as I’m not a complainer but I just don’t think it’s being heard or maybe just too late? Anyway we are still having a great time, just think Seabourn needs to better set expectations or improve in this area. Spa and gym: nothing to say here. Haven’t even walked by it! I’m probably not the best person to ask about this aspect despite the fact on the regular ships we prefer the penthouse spa suites due to the location at the back of the ship! Wines: we love good wine so only a few complimentary we drink. We order off the reserve list many nights. Coming from California where we have pretty good pricing the prices seem high but you can find some good prices here and there and if you qualify for a discount it’s ok! We very much enjoyed a lunch with wine pairing one sea day. It was great. We haven’t done the dinners as we know many of the wines they have offered and just opted out but I think for others would be fun. in Antarctica where

@frantic36 The signature suites are fantastic. Certainly large enough to have room service for any meal outdoors or inside. The weather mid day can be quite hit and humid where we’ve been but if you eat indoors the table and chairs are situated in such a way you have a great view. We often have caviar and champagne in the evening outside before dinner and have had breakfast outside too. On,y did room service lunch once but it was too hot that day to eat outside. Also @highplanesdriftersasked about the jacuzzi temperature and it is lukewarm which works well for the evenings. It can be adjusted but has to be dine by the staff.

@LocoLoco1 and others. for the first part of our cruise it was not expedition ( although sold as expedition) in fact the excursions were the same as any other cruise ship, used third parties and IMO should have been published in advance, and we should have not been paying the uplift. We found it easy to find a taxi and guide to take us around the island site seeing and were lucky we got good people. Normally I would have researched this in advance and organized ahead of time but since when I called Seabourn destinations repeatedly they assured me there would be small, intimate unusual excursions I did not bother. Now there were some free included excursions and some paid. But they were essentially everyone on the ship - not small and intimate and with varying local guides. We did our own thing and paid for the taxis as the alternative was not to our personal liking. You could easily find a grid bar to taste the local beer btw. so I think you could easily do what we did but I’m not sure you could find someone to take you snorkeling or diving except in American Samoa where the snorkeling beach is only about 20 min from the ship, but that port was a substitute for Niue. I did talk to one of the guests who is a diver on this ship last night ( I think they limit the number to 6 or 😎 and he said they had great dives in the two stops in Fiji. I don’t think they were given permission ( Seabourn) to dive before this except maybe the second stop in Tonga where we did have decent snorkeling. The dives were with the expedition staff so in Fiji they had the permission. And the snorkeling was off the zodiac and by far the best we had day one but day 2 they warned us was off the beach and not much to see so we skipped and I had to do some work anyway. Heard we didn’t miss anything but some liked swimming in the cave. We are on our way to Vanuatu right now and stopping there tomorrow. No excursions have been published but in looking at the Silversea and Linblad websites I can see what the typical excursions are: Rom Rom dance with village visit, hike, and snorkeling. I’m assuming we will find out tonight those are our options and there will be a mad race to sign up! Perhaps there will be a diving opportunity and we are hoping for a submarine opportunity. So far Seabourn hasn’t received permission to use the sub anywhere. This is the last stop on this leg. After tomorrow we have two sea days and then some disembark in Honaria ( gudacanal) and others get on. We are staying for the next part so if no sub tomorrow maybe in Solomons, PNG, or Micronesia. I’ll keep updating on things as they unravel.

Today is a sea day and we are nearing the end of the first segment of our cruise. So,e will leave in a few days in Honaria, Soloman Islands ( Guadalcanal), some will continue for another two weeks ( including us) to Guam, and some new passengers will join. On this cruise we have about 200 guests, some have come all the way from Chile and others got on on Papeete as we did. A large portion are from the USA, about 25 from Canada, about 25 from Australia, the rest from varying parts of the world - Britain, Germany, Sweden and others. We’ve met some very nice people and I’d say a wide age span. One gentleman is 96 and there are a few that look to be in their 40’s but most seem to be in the 60-70’s age range. I’m guessing but that’s what it seems. I haven’t seen any children. The service from our suite attendant has been excellent. Some of the best I’ve experienced despite the fact she has 21 rooms. Unfortunately for us she’s going home from Honaria so we will have someone new on the next part of our journey. We do have a second person who helps her which I hadn’t experienced previously. He focuses on the outdoor decks, the bathrooms and does light maintenance, helps her with a variety of things and he’s outstanding also. He will stay on but it’s unclear if he will still be assigned to our room. The dining staff have also been terrific. We tend to have breakfast in our room every day and it’s always been very timely. We have had dinner most nights in the MDR but have had several dinners on the patio which is lovely in the evenings. We pick and choose based on the menus. One disappoint,ent for us is the MDR is closed except on sea days. So the Columnade and patio become extremely busy. We don’t care for buffets and the cafeteria atmosphere so try to get a table on the patio even when it’s very hot. You have to go early or late to get a spot. There is a limited menu - burgers, hotdogs, salmon, chicken breast, on the menu. I asked one day if I could have a Caesar salad from the room service menu and was told I could make my own at the buffet. I was told nothing from the room service menu could be ordered on the patio or in the Columnade as it was a different kitchen. So I ordered a burger ( they are quite good). Then 5 min later a waiter told me he could make a Caesar salad for me from the buffet but I passed and said thank you very much but I’d just ordered a burger. I think the situation is funny as I have seen people eating club sandwiches ordered from room service so maybe it depends on who you ask. Having said that the service has been attentive and very good. Just for those of us who don’t care for crowded buffets lunch can be a bit if a disappointment although some days I’ve just skipped it when we have morning and afternoon activities. We often eat on the patio on the regular Seabourn ships but there are more choices - usually a fish and dish of the day in addition to the salad bar, pizza, and same menu items. Food overall- it has been fair to very good depending. I on,y had one dish that was poor. On an Italian night on the patio I made the mistake of ordering Branzino - a dish I often order at restaurants. I have to say it was awful IMHO. It was dried out and way too fishy in smell and taste. Something I’ve never experienced before. I took only one bite. The staff could tell I hadn’t eaten it and offered to bring me something else but I passed. One never starves here so missing a main course of a meal is not a bad thing at all😎. I probably should have given the feedback but I just said I wasn’t hungry. ( bad on me I suppose but I hate to complain). On the other hand we’ve had some very good meals including a very good chicken tikka masala the other day. I do think the food could improve but realize it’s hard with such a large and varied group of passengers. More later!

We tried to post some videos but I think they were awfully large for this site. I’m not sure how to delete them. Yesterday afternoon we had some very good snorkeling off the zodiac platforms in Fiji. Best we’ve had so far. There was a village visit as well which we skipped as logistically we didn’t arrive at the site til about 1:30 and by the times the zodiacs were ready to transport everyone it was hard to do both although some did. Sunset last night was magical and given we had been anchored in an atoll, the sail away was incredible from our aft balcony. We enjoyed caviar in our suite last night pre dinner and enjoyed a nice Earth and Ocean dinner outside on the patio off the Columnade. It was quite a love,y evening with a nice breeze so the patio filled up rapidly. On certain evenings if one doesn’t arrive right at opening it can be hard to get an outside table which is preferred on this warm weather cruise. The inside we noticed was quite empty when we left but the outside still very full and busy. This morning was another village visit with snorkeling off the beach at another location in Fiji. The snorkeling was fair. Not great but ok. Nice to get in the water. The location was not far from another island resort we stayed on twice in the past called Wakaya. Wakaya had some of the best diving and snorkeling we’d ever experienced including the Maldives and other wonderful spots. This afternoon we have moved to another location where we have a choice of a beach visit ( supposedly not good for snorkeling) or swimming in a cave. We are passing on both while husband will work on his photos and videos and o have some work to catch up on. !y husband hopes I can send you a link soon if you’d like to take a look. He wants to shorten a bit first!

Yesterday we were in Tonga. We thought this was going to be the beginning of the “expedition” part of our cruise but not entirely. In the morning we were in Vava U, a small town on a pretty little island. There were 4 third party tour options: Two complimentary cultural visits, one city walk ( quite a small city - really a town, and a paid hike. Since the ship was leaving at 12:30 we signed up for and took one of the cultural tours. It was a tour to a small beach where we were given demonstrations of local cooking, weaving, dances and the obligatory cava ceremony. The dancing was performed by young children and it was we thought a nice fairly short (advertised as 2 hours but close to 3 with drive times) and since we had toured the other island stops on our own with a taxi we were happy to hear from other passengers who had done the other tours this was by far the best! Well I guess we were quite lucky! The tour was called Anu Beach for those who may be stopping here in the future. There was time to swim but only for about 15 min so we didn’t bother as we planned to snorkel in the afternoon. Following these tours we boarded the ship and moved to a spot to swim and snorkel in the afternoon. I think everyone on the ship must have come. We were on one of the first zodiacs and the beach was small. We set out to snorkel and about 20 min into it the water was packed with snorkelers running into one another. And after we finished not much room on the beach at all. Like a mini tiny version of Waikiki with bodies spread out towel to towel! On top of that the snorkeling was kind of a bust if you have experienced great snorkeling as we have in the past. Saw a few fish, but nothing spectacular or even very good. Anyway it was great to be in the nice clear warm water and putter around snorkeling even though there wasn’t much to see. Biggest problem was bodies everywhere bumping into one another! We were told Tonga was going to be the first chance to do the submarine, but unfortunately at the last minute the team was not given permission to operate it. We were told likely in Fiji. So now we just arrived at a very remote island in Fiji. We have been to Fiji twice before staying at private resorts on their own island where we had fabulous diving and snorkeling. we arrived just a short time ago and will spend the afternoon here. There are two excursions ( expedition not third party!). A trip to the remote island’s village and snorkeling in deep water off the zodiac platform. We were all assigned times to leave the boat for the zodiac to the village and the zodiac to the snorkeling platform. Because we arrived quite late and it’s a 20 min + ride to the village given the time we were given for snorkeling we didn’t really think we’d have time to do both so we will snorkel and hopefully as they are only letting 1/3 of the ship go at once for max one hour it won’t be crowded. It’s disappointing not to see the village but we would have had to zodiac in and then turn around after about 20 min and zodiac back. The good news is we have visited some remote villages on our past land based trips to Fiji so we chose to just do the snorkeling today! Hopefully it will be much improved from yesterday. Unfortunately the submarine was canceled again today and tomorrow as the expedition team was not given permission to operate. I’ll post again after our upcoming snorkel hopefully with some photos worth posting. My husband did a great video in Aitutaki but it was too large to post. I’ll send a ,ink once he posts on his website ( he’s retired from the tech industry and took up photography as a hobby after he retured so although he primarily dies sailing racing he also has done a lot on our travels to places like Africa, India, Antarctica, and lots on past diving vacations in Fiji, Seychelles, Maldives, and others. After returning to the ship we enjoyed a nice lobster dinner with a nice bottle of white burgundy off the reserve wine list. CCRsnorkel2.mp4 Here CCRsnorkel2.mp4 CCRsnorkel2.mp4 CCRsnorkel2.mp4 CCRsnorkel2.mp4 CCRsnorkel2.mp4 CCRsnorkel2.mp4 CCRsnorkel2.mp4 CCRsnorkel2.mp4 CCRsnorkel2.mp4 CCRsnorkel2.mp4 CCRsnorkel2.mp4 CCRsnorkel2.mp4 CCRsnorkel2.mp4 CCRsnorkel2.mp4 CCRsnorkel2.mp4

BTW, I don’t mean to sound like we are complaining as we are having a great time. Just frustrated the excursions in more traditional ports weren’t organized in advance. The expedition team says when we get to Tonga and Fiji it will be more expedition mode! No longer dependent on third parties!

@frantic36Thank you for the tips on American Samoa. That is good to know. Although on an “ expedition cruise” all of the ports since Papeete have been std cruise ports for all sizes of ships, all of the excursions have been exactly what you would have been offered on any line. The frustration is since nothing was published in advance and when calling Seabourn was told everything would be unique and limited to much smaller groups of people the tours have been 100+ in buses so not small or unique and all third party which I understand was required in these ports but also because last minute very limited selection and a last minute scramble by passengers to sign up. Some included and some paid. We usually in these cases would have booked private tours in advance on our own but didn’t do except for Guadalcanal on May 1st as it was so important to my husband I didn’t want to take a chance. Our snorkeling in Aitutaki was wonderful but there were many boats of people arriving in close succession had to worry about bumping into people not the coral. If I would have known I would have booked a private in advance! But it was still a great experience and taking zodiacs to shore it was hard to know when we would arrive as it goes by color groups like Antartica . ( I think the larger cruise ships must tender to this port). In American Samoa and Samoa it was a different story as we were docked so in both cases yes, America Samoa was a replacement, but Samoa was always on the agenda but no heads up on excursions til right before. Now on the snorkeling tour we missed out on in American Samoa - turns out we were quite lucky. It was a total bust,! In fact they gave allpeople that participated a full refund which was something at close to $250 pp. In talking to a couple who went, it was a very long hot drive. Rocky, black beach, no marine scientists but some locals who sat on the shore and didn’t help. Very very strong current and saw 1 fish in the hour or so they were there. Had to struggle to get back to the shore the current was so strong. So turns out we dodged a bullet so to speak and enjoyed our tour around the island with delightful Samoan guide and driver we found at the dock. To all in case you go the tour us called “ Leone Snorkeling and research on rehabilitating damaged coral”. Based on the feedback and price on an expedition cruise ( expensive already), don’t go! There is a beach not too far from the port called 2 cent beach. We went by it and heard it wasn’t fabulous snorkeling like Aitutaki but good. It was a $5 entrance fee and white sand beach with clear water if we had stayed to snorkel which we weren’t. Today we had not booked a private as Seabourn had told us on expedition ship it would be exciting small group experiences. There were two offers : 1. A cultural round island tour with cava ceremony and 2. A hike through the rainforest to a natural pool for swimming which was a paid tour. Tour number one most of the ship had booked in the morning so lots of buses and people. We got off the ship and once again were very lucky. We found Wayne, a lovely Samoan man who gave us a great tour around the island, he has started his own business doing tours and website designs, His company is called Adventours Samoa and I highly, highly recommend him. You can find him on Facebook by looking up Adventours. He drove us to the normal tour sites but also to places the large tour buses from the ship ( over 100 people) could not go to see waterfalls, beaches, a luxury resort where King Charles will be staying in the fall to try a local beer, he bought coconuts for us to taste and it was delightful. We saw the Robert Louis Stevenson home before the ship buses arrived, etc. If we’d had our swimsuits I’m sure he would have found a place fir swimming or snorkeling as well. ( but we just met him pierside with no advanced reservation so hardly knew). Anyway it was an excellent day and I’d highly recommend him. So we turned lemons into lemonade! Learned a lot about Samoan culture, saw the island, and had some fun local experiences in a comfortable van with air conditioning and a very friendly, knowledgeable guide/ driver who happens to be a chief at an extremely reasonable price. We learned in both places a chief is really the head of a family group. They hold meetings in covered open air “bomas” where they get the family together to make decisions sometimes on their land, or family issues and sometimes to present their opinion to their local MP in Samoa, representative in American Samoa for them to take to their Parliment or congress. Anyway it turned out to be two very interesting days and turned out we dodged a bullet on the snorkeling trip in American Samoa unknowingly. For Seabourn to give all participants 100% refund it must have been pretty dicey!

Today was Pago Pago, American Samoa, the substitution for Niue. The ship pulled up to a dock and we were greeted by a large number of local dancers, fun local instruments playing local music, and lots of friendly smiles! For an unfortunate personal reason we did not do the snorkel trip today. So instead of piling in the very full buses for a cultural tour, we hired a local taxi available at the port with local husband ( driver) and wife ( guide team) and they gave us a tour of some of the interesting parts of the island. We saw some of the beaches, small towns, drove up to the top of one of the mountains, and they told us about life in America Samoa, the culture ( very religious with ever type of small church you can imagine, but predominantly varying types of Christianity), the schools, the sports, etc. it was an interesting way to spend a few hours and we covered a lot in a short period of time. They were big SF 49er fans which was funny since we are from SF. I’d say the only thing we really missed besides snorkeling was the local cava ceremony. We had seen one a number of years ago while staying on an island we went to dive in Fiji so had seen before and will likely have another opportunity tomorrow in Samoa if we wish. There are about 44,000 + people living in American Samoa across 5 different volcanic islands, this being the largest. People tend to have large families ( our guide had 9 children) 👧 and there is an American influence especially when it comes to sports. Everything from American football, basketball, golf, tennis, even pickleball! They also play rugby ( our guides husband was a rugby player with lots of evidence of old “owies”, soccer, and cricket. There is an American base here, and McDonalds of course. We were told there had been lots of Chinese coming here the last 10 years, so of course a number of Chinese restaurants, and we were told they even have their own hospital and community where they all live. It was an interesting way to experience the island albeit a short amount of time. I will try to catch up with some of the snorkelers this evening to find out the scoop. It was limited to only 20 people so not many could go and it was quite a long distance from the port. The description sounded quite interesting as it’s an area where they are working on restoring damaged reefs which was going to be part of the program. Tomorrow is Samoa and again all third party tours are on offer. I believe like here a combination of paid and included - no snorkeling from what I can tell but we will find out the details tonight. Evidently the “ real” expedition part of this trip with lots of snorkeling ( I hope!), the submarine, diving, kayaks will begin in Tonga and Fiji coming soon! I still owe photos of snorkeling in Aitutaki and some others which I’ll get posted sometime soon. So far all ports have been third party excursions that you would find on offer on all the cruise lines - expedition or non expedition. Most ports have had a combination of paid and included with the exception of Aitutaki where all were included despite being offered by third parties.

So far on our pursuit cruise from Papeete to Guam, we have done all third party excursions, most of which are offered on all non expedition ships. Some paid, usually at least one included. These could easily have been published in advance as they are fairly typical. Yes can be canceled like any excursion due to weather and in fact the snorkeling trips on the first day were ( they were third party and not complimentary). I talk about it in my write up on this message board. Niue was supposed to be our stop today but it was canceled. Evidently the expedition team couldn’t get in touch with the local exclusion providers. Too bad as we will miss the whales. Instead we are going to Pago Pago tomorrow with two third party excursions - a village visit ( complimentary) and a snorkeling one (must pay). For some of the stops you can look on other cruise ship lines like SS and they will list some of the activities. Also Google works well. I organized a WW2 sites private in Guadalcanal, Honaria as that was a must for my husband.

Here are some photos - my husband still editing the snorkeling photos but some sunsets, the fancy wine lunch menu, some daily activities. The nesting bird is apparently a red tailed tropicbird…the shot looking upwards includes the nearly full moon.

Yesterday and today are sea days. We were supposed to be on Niue today but as I mentioned it was canceled. Evidently the expedition team had a difficult time connecting with the local operators. So too bad as we will miss the whales! We have heard some interesting lectures on the history of Oceania and how these small communities survive or collapse.Akin to Jarad Diamond's book collapse. Many islanders in the Cook Islands for example have moved to Australia and New Zealand for work which means they have a shrinking population. We attended a special wine lunch in the MDR yesterday. Although I didn’t take photos of all 5 courses, I’ll post a photo of the menu and the wines. It was $150 pp and I think was worth it. There was a good group of people and we enjoyed the food, the wine, and the group was great company. Dinner was Thai on the patio. Not really our idea of Thai food as it lacked a lot of the spices and flavors ( we have spent lots of time in Thailand and have outstanding restaurants in SF), but it was a good change and nice to sit outside in the evening. Today we listened to a lecture on Navigation. My husband is a sailor and boat person but at this point in our lives we won’t be doing a trip like this on our own! Seabourn Pursuit or a like ship is definitely the way to go! Later we will have our first introduction to the submarines which we have signed up to try. MDR is open for lunch again today so we will have a nice relaxing lunch there since it will likely be closed the next two days while we are ashore. Tomorrow is Pago, Pago American Samoa which is our substitution for Niue. We have two third party tours: 1. A local village tour with a cava ceremony. 2. A snorkeling trip (over $200 paid). We can’t resist the snorkeling so off we go. It’s of added interest as we learn about a project they are doing to restore coral that has been damaged. I will post some photos later of snorkeling in the cook island and the wine lunch.

Brando - yes we were on the snorkeling side and walking distance from the restaurants. We were very happy there. Some villas were quite far away - you have bikes but they will pick you up in a golf cart so really doesn’t matter but being close enough to walk was convenient. Turtle Bay is the snorkeling side and has gorgeous sunsets. You do want reef shoes as there are a lot of shells on this side of the beach but I’d prefer this any time. Expedition part of cruise: honestly so far this could have been done on any other ship. Could have had tours posted in advance and shouldn’t be charged the big uplift IMHO. The tours are what you could get on Quest or Sojourn or Princess for that matter so should have been posted way in advance. But as we get into some of the other ports I hope we will have the real expedition experience. I think we will Fiji for example. I think unlike Antarctica this trip is really a combination of real expedition and more traditional cruising. Tours could have been published in advance in many of the sites and it would have saved the scramble to sign up. My husband and I both worked in tech and in my case still work in the tech industry so not so hard to navigate the not so great source app but I’m sure for many it gets it’s not ideal.,To get what you want last minute you have to sign up fast. To be fair they have worked hard to accomodate people but the planning could have been much better IMHO. our stop at Niue was canceled. I was disappointed as heard from friends who’ve sailed here that’s the place to see whales, now we will go to Pago Pago, American Samoa - a pretty regular cruise ship stop. Two choices of tours - 1. Cultural visit with a cava ceremony - complimentary. 2. Snorkeling with a save the reef program - paid - over $200. I must admit we signed up for the snorkeling although it seems wrong to charge that much when we’ve paid a premium for an expedition cruise. I did see on the good old internet these are both tours that are offered to princess and others…… so not anything that special but we are snorkelers so…just feeling a little bit like an ATM!

Brando is a huge thumbs up! If one can fit it into the schedule do it! The flight from Papeete is 20 min on a private plane. Trip in, there were two others on the flight. Flight out we were it! Probably one of the best resort experiences we’ve ever had. And we’ve been to the Seychelles, Maldives, many Amans, etc. this was really special. Anyway, back to the cruise! I continue to be so impressed with the ship. Pursuit is really beautiful and other than the craziness of colunmade lunches when the MDR is closed it seems like guests are pretty spread out in different venues on the ship. Lots of outdoor space which is really nice in a warm weather cruise like ours. Aitutaki, Cook Islands: We were there today and it’s somewhere I’ve always wanted to go. It’s gorgeous. In fact I wish despite it being quite small we’d had more time here. Beautiful turquoise lagoons with terrific snorkeling. I only wish I was still a diver as I’m sure that would have been spectacular. ( although I’m not sure if that was an option with Seabourn - not sure). We had three tour options - all third party and honestly you can find these on other cruise ships. Just too bad it was published last minute. There was a scramble to sign up but the expedition team was able to put more buses and boats on so that everyone had a chance to do something but why it wasn’t published in advance I don’t understand as they were std tours I found months ago on the internet, 1. snorkeling 2. Lagoon tour, snorkeling and beach barbecue ( they ended up canceling the lunch to accommodate more people). 3. Round the island cultural tour All of the above were complimentary. We did the snorkeling which was lovely. Saw big clams, an eel and lots of fish. We took a zodiac to a jetty ( pier), got in a third party boat and then went out to a great snorkeling spot. Later we went ashore on a small motu ( island) where you could see some rare birds). More on this later as I will post some photos with more detail. I had hoped we’d be back in time to do the round the island tour but by the time we returned and washed away the salt water it was too late. People that did that tour said it was really interesting. Cook Islands have an interesting history. Spanish were here first, then the British ( captain cook), eventually became independent from the crown but are New Zealand protectorate. I’d love to come back here and visit Roratonga ( capital island) and check into one of the supposedly lovely resorts here on Aitutaki! If you are on a cruise coming here I highly recommend the snorkeling and if you can organize an island tour as well that would be great. Ship things - I’m not usually a fan of the colunmade but you can sit outside here on the patio and the weather is great. We do get occasional showers but the outdoor dining is protected. Last night was Spanish. So we decided to give it a go. The traditional tomato bread was a bust - tomato butter not the typical spread you’d get in Spain. The Zarzuela again a bust - more like a brith than the Spanish version of boulabaise. The paella on the other hand was ok! Didn’t expect fantastic but it was good. So overall despite the lack of authentic Spanish food we enjoyed sitting outside and the paella was good, Today the dining room was closed for lunch. So we ate on the patio of the colunmade and had another burger from the limited menu. Not as good as the TK burgers but not bad. Ok. I did find out later one can order from the room service menu which dues expand choices to include a chicken Caesar salad, club sandwich, etc so good to know, Tonight we ate in the MDR and it was fine. Not great but good. Service was excellent and the staff couldn’t be more happy and just wonderful so although the food is good ( not excellent but we don’t expect that with so many people) the friendly and hard working staff make the evening a real pleasure. I’ll post some photos of Aitutaki and snorkeling tomorrow as we have a sea day. I haven’t dine photos of the food as it hadn’t inspired me yet but we are doing a special wine paired lunch tomorrow in the MDR so maybe that will inspire photos,