2010 Successive Spring Cruises

[rafinmd]

My first visit to Hawaii was a land tour to all six of the major islands in 1992. Since that time, I have been back only to Honolulu, most recently on the Crystal Harmony in 2004. The islands each have their individual character and it is wonderful to return to the big island. It was very cloudy with periods of rain as I walked the Promenade deck in the early morning, and the mountains were covered in clouds, but the lights of Hilo were a welcome sight. Hilo is a small city of 41,000. Our guide told us the population of the island is 48,000, but I have a bit of trouble believing there are only 7,000 people on the rest of the island.

 

My tour was "Natural Wonders and Nut Factory", and most of the time was spent in the Hawaii Volcanos National Park, just under an hour from town. There are 2 active volcanos in the area. Mauna Loa, the biggest, erupted for about a month in 1984. The flows from that eruption stopped about a mile from the nearest developed area, but another eruption appears imminent and could cause a major disruption in island life. Kilaua has been in eruption since 1984 and has destroyed a number of homes. We stopped at the visitor center and along the Crater Rim Drive to Jaggar museum. In 1992 we could do a complete circle around the crater, but the road now ends at Jaggar Museum due to volcanic fumes blowing across the road. We looked down into the crater where the trails we walked 18 years ago have been replaced by fumes of toxic gasses. Our final stop in the park was Thurston Lava Tube, an underground passage which carried lava to the surface thousands of years ago, but the lava drained out leaving a clear tube about 20 feet in diameter. The feeling is much like a cavern, but this segment of tube is now open at both ends. Our final stop was the Mauna Loa nut factory. There were samples, refreshments, and views of the factory, but this was not very attractive since at least at our time of day, reflections in the windows interfered with the views.

 

The shopping in Helo was in a different direction from downtown, and there were shuttles to both areas. One of the bookstores offered free wifi, but it was so slow it was better to work from the ship.

 

The Cruise Critic Meet and Mingle was held in Palm Court between dinner seatings. About 60 were registered and nearly all showed up, along with several Crystal Representatives including Captain Ralf Zander and CD Scott Peterson. It was a huge success. The evening entertainment was "The Envelope Please" by the Crystal Ensemble of Singers and Dancers.

 

For my parting thought today I'll mention an exchange that occurred on the Crystal board but not on the Cruise Conversations board. A cruiser I dined with on the Symphony in 2006 has been following this thread and reestablished contact. Cruise Critic really has become a great community.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

I will also post this the next 2 days on the Cunard forum. While Hawaii is not prime Cunard cruising territory, the inaugural Queen Elizabeth World Cruise will call on Maui and Oahu.

My shore excursion today was Maui Waterfall and Hiking Adventure and I cut my morning walk on the Promenade Deck back to 3 miles. Most of the walk was before dawn with the lights of Lahina prominent over the bow. The day started very well with 2 whales swimming briefly about 50 feet from our tender as we made our way to shore. There were only 14 of us on the tour, and we divided into 2 groups of 7 for a very small group experience. We drove about 45 minutes along the beautiful Maui coast to the trail head. We were in a plantation shared by 4 families, with a variety of fruits and nuts in various stages of maturity. The destination was a pair of beautiful waterfalls where swimming is available, but there had been heavy rain up on the mountain and the water was quite murky, and none of our group actually did much swimming. We had a picnic lunch at the first of the waterfalls. There were several places where we had to ford small streams, and water shoes were provided.

Lahina is a quaint small village, about 8 blocks long, and would be a very pleasant place to spend an afternoon if not booked on a shore excursion. One of my table mates did a whale watch cruise with stunning viewing opportunities. On returning from my tour I strolled the town and spent about an hour at the local McDonalds, which had free and excellent wifi service.

After a wonderful dinner in the main dining room, the evening's entertainment was a bit of a switch. Regular Avenue Saloon Pianist performed a superb tribute to Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack in the Galaxy theater while the Crystal trio performed in the early evening in the Avenue Saloon, and the Galaxy Orchestra did a late night jazz show there.

As my parting shot tonight, it's been a great pleasure to return this week to three of my favorites. the Big Island, Maui, and the Crystal Symphony.

Roy

[capnpugwash]

Really enjoying your exploits, excellent and interesting.

[rafinmd]

Captain, I hope I get to sail with you one of these days.

 

Yesterday's walk on Maui was not quite as challenging as it could have been and today I lengthened my morning walk a bit to 4 miles. Today's "Waterfall Adventure Hike" proved a full complement to that walk. There were only 6 of us, and our guide Dante took us on a 20-minute drive to Kailua, where we parked on the grounds of First Presbyterian Church. The church actually owns a large parcel of land with a golf course and a substantial undeveloped area. We hiked about an hour and a half, eventually arriving at LoKayKay Falls, a spring fed waterfall with a constant supply of clear, cold water. On the way we walked portions of the original 1845 cross island road used by oxcarts and following the route of native walking trails, and the later 1919 road built for the Model T, but mostly rather muddy rain forest trails.

 

Crystal always provides a Catholic Priest who performs a daily mass on board and normally leads an interdenominational service on Sundays while at sea, It was a pleasant surprise to have Fr. Jim Melley include a 5:30 pm service even though we were in port. Unfortunately, attendance was very sparse with the Oscars, Sailaway, and the main seating at 6:00pm.

 

The evening's entertainment was harp virtuoso Shirley Dominguez. I believe I have seen Ms. Dominguez perform on previous Crystal cruises, but had forgotten just how stunning a harp performance can be. She performed tonight, mostly latin music but also a variety of other genres including a superb Mamma Mia, on a harp from Paraguay. The sound was quite distinctive with a flair reminiscent of a steel drum.

 

As my parting shot today I want to reflect on a comment made by one of our tour guides, I believe in Hilo. A major crop in the islands has been sugar, and it still is in Maui. The guide commented that a pound of white refined sugar requires a million gallons of water to create. I hope that was an exaggeration, but another guide also remarked on the water intensive nature of growing sugar. By the million gallon per pound rule, a simple packet of sugar would require almost 9,000 gallons of precious water to produce. Sometimes, it is the smallest things we do and use that have massive consequences.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

This is the beginning of 9 sea days, one of my longest periods at sea. My morning walk was interspersed with a bit of rain and visits to the laundry room to recover from yesterday's mud walk. The Crystal Visions Enrichment Program resumed in great form with a presentation by Destination Lecturer Jay Wolff giving an overview of the "Day of Infamy", causes, successes and failures, and aftermath, followed by a theme presentation by Jeremy Arnold on "All About Eve". The presentation was excellent, but there is so much happening on this voyage that I simply haven't had the time to view the movies. In the afternoon we had a presentation by Larry Soper on "Wildlife of the North Pacific". Adam and Patricia's waltz class was excellent, followed by afternoon tea time, and a superb dinner in the Crystal Dining Room. The evening's entertainment was a superb display of the Fox Trot and Samba by Adam and Patricia, and a riotous session with ventriloquist Mark Merchant and his partner Zelda.

 

My parting shot today is more related to the Crystal Board than to Cruise Conversations. Keith1010 has been presenting a superb account of the Crystal World Cruise. I have been following it partly because it is a great account, and partly because I will be visiting some of the same ports later in my journey. He closes each post with a thought of the day. Some questions have been raised recently about the origins of these thoughts. From my perspective I fully understand the challenges in following up on a lot of details while involved in a busy cruise ship life and working with somewhat limited communications. I feel like the discussions of the thought of the day origins are a distraction from the purpose of the World Cruise blog, and think that if they are continued they should probably be moved to another thread.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Today got off to a superb start with excellent weather and walking conditions on board. The schedule today was the busiest to date. In the morning, Public Affairs Lecturer Louis Rene Beres gave his introductory presentation, "Civilizations: Past, Present, and Future", a look at the forces shaping the development of culture, including the influences of the arts on culture. Our trivia team was competitive but not quite a contender to win.

The afternoon started with a presentation by Naturalist Tony Soper "101 Uses for a Penguin - Sea Birds in the fashion trade and in the Market". As the second half of the title suggests, he did speak some about penguins but mostly other sea birds, and some of the ways birds were exploited, particularly as articles of clothing were quite bizarre, sometimes humane but often very cruel. I had to leave the lecture a bit early to catch a bit of the annual Crew Tug of War. I did not see the entire event but understand the waiters pulled off an upset over the perennial favorites from the engine room. The afternoon movie was It Happened One Night, with an introduction by Entertainment Historian Jeremy Arnold. For this Film and Theater Theme Cruise, Mr. Arnold has pulled together a selection of movies with some relationship to ships. In this case, the film begins with the main character escaping her overbearing father by jumping from and his yacht and swimming away. We had an informative tour of the galley with an introduction by Executive Chef Markus Nufer.

There was just time to change for dinner before the Crystal Society reception with Captain Zander and CD Scott Peterson. French Dinner was superb in the Crystal Dining Room, followed by one of the most lavish of the production shows of the Crystal Ensemble of Singers and Dancers, "Million Dollar Musical". I normally take a short afternoon walk, but the day was so packed I could not find time until just after dinner. I did discover that in the evening a 6-foot walker has quite a clear view inside rooms on the promenade deck; I'll have to keep that in mind when I am on that deck on Serenity in October. Since we moved the clocks back, there was time do drop down briefly to the Avenue Saloon and enjoy the music of Larry Dunsmore.

I am trying not to compare the two lines I am sailing with, but will make one comparison today. There has been much talk on both the Cunard and Crystal boards, as well as others, about dress codes, and I've been surprised to come to the conclusion that Cunard is the most formal of the lines I have sailed. For my 17 nights on the Symphony and 15 on the Queen Victoria, there are 3 formal nights each, but there are 13 sea days on the Symphony and 6 on Queen Victoria. The Symphony has 1 extra night each in the Informal and Casual categories, but the big difference is in the definition of the categories. On Queen Victoria, the lowest classification is "Elegant Casual" with a jacket required for men every night, including embarkation and pre-disembarkation nights, and actually this code is close to what Crystal specifies for Informal. On some of the port nights, a jacket and tie is required. I'm not really a fan of the formality, but a cruise ship is a form of community which we join voluntarily, and living by the community's standards is an inherent part of belonging. My sense is that the issue is far more important to those who like the current standards than for those who may not totally agree but still choose to join that community, and with one slight exception to come later, I believe that these standards serve these 2 companies and their customers well. I have always been a dark suit person for formal nights, but there is a unique opportunity this year. Crystal Cruises is running a superb promotion this year called "As you wish credits". Since my shipboard expenses are generally limited, my credit for this cruise has been sufficient to embellish the suit with a more formal choice in trousers. When I board Serenity in October, a larger AYWC will cover the purchase of an appropriate formal jacket.

 

As my parting shot, there is one area where I think a change would be considered. Crystal now faces competitors like Oceania and Azumara which offer luxury cruising in a more relaxed atmosphere. If I were new to cruising hadn't experienced all the advantages Crystal has to offer, I can imagine myself getting hung up on the dress code and choosing one of those other lines. What I'd like to see is ONE casual cruise per year, probably in the Caribbean, where it could even be designated a "Caribbean lifestyle" theme. If someone experienced the Crystal amenities and still could not accept the formality, I think that would justifiably be their loss. That might apply to Cunard as well, although I am not aware of similar alternatives in their market.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

We seem to be in a bit of a weather system, although there was less rain than most days, so my morning walk, including 5 laps with the Nordic Poles, came off without a hitch. Louis Rene Beres continued his lectures with "Understanding Terrorism", and looked at the use of violence in terms of the concepts of just cause, just means, and the often surprising motivations of terrorists, followed by our mostly cruise critic team engaging in a disastrous attempt at team trivia.

In the afternoon we had a film and theater theme lecture by Foster Hersh on "A Streetcar Named Desire", followed by a screening in the Hollywood Theater.

We had another excellent dinner in the Crystal Dining Room. Our Head Waiter Martin continues to pamper us with his superb deserts. Today we enjoyed both a superb cheesecake and glorious banana flambe in addition to all the other wonders on the regular menu.

We had a double bill headline entertainment tonight. Ventriloquist Mark Merchant performed a standing room only encore performance

in the Starlight club, followed by Phantom of the Opera star Dale Kristien in the Galaxy Lounge. I missed the start of her show to be out on deck with my GPS and catch the exact moment of our Equator Crossing (at 9:07pm). This was an unfortunate choice since Ms. Kristien announced that it would be her only show.

My parting shot tonight is based on Professor Beres lecture. While we often disagree, his integrity, openness, and willingness to think totally outside the box make him always a wonderful speaker. He told, as I think he does often, of his conversation with a captured suicide bomber who was distraught because "now he would die", rather than face a temporary inconvenience to go on to a glorious eternal life, with the obvious implication that to succeed we must truly first understand others, rather than simply reacting to events as seen through our own prejudices. May we all gain some of his openness, wisdom, and insight, and truly learn from each other.

 

Roy

[Love Cruises]

Roy.

 

I am a really enjoying your running commentary on your adventure. It's the first thread I check out each day on Cruise Critic. Thanks so much for sharing this with all your Cruise Critic friends.

 

Love your AVATAR also ... you coming off an ACCL ship.

[rafinmd]

Welcome back on line, Dan and Barb. It sounds like you're getting back to normal after your long adventure. You're right about my avitar. It was taken as I was disembarking in New Orleans. You'll probably get a good laugh from my "crime" in today's post (actually 2 posts today, we just got back satellite coverage).

 

For our first full day in the Southern Hemisphere, King Neptune was not very cooperative. My morning walk started well enough but was interrupted by rain after about an hour. I just managed to finish (including 5 laps with Nordic Poles) before Captain Zander's 9AM update. The regular at sea program kicked off for me at 10, with a lecture by Jay Wolff on "The Great Migration" discussed the ways we can trace the ancient origins of modern cultures with sometimes surprising results. For example, language studies suggest that the native Hawaiian language is closely related to early versions of Hebrew, suggesting a stronger relationship to that culture, rather than the more commonly assumed ties to Polynesia.

 

I normally think of Crystal activities as laid back, conservative, and intellectually stimulating. I saw a very different side of Crystal late this morning. I was one of about 30 polliwogs, initiated into the circle of those who have crossed the Equator by ship. The ceremony was held around the Seahorse pool on the Lido deck. With CD Scott Peterson presiding as King Neptune, we (in 4 separate groups), along with several crew members (grouped by department) were brought before King Neptune and charged with a crime. My group, for example, was "charged" with carrying a Holland America tote bag around the ship. All were convicted, and sentenced to be "slimed" with colored whipped cream, had to kiss a large fish, and were cut up with fake saw and scissors and were tossed in the pool. After the last of the accused were sentenced, Captain Zander complained that the messy ceremony was a violation of the "Crystal Clean" policy, and he was promptly charged with interference with the ceremony and joined us in the pool, a slimy mess. CD Peterson seemed to be in command of King Neptune; the weather held for the duration of the ceremony, but started raining heavily soon afterwards, and near gale winds and heavy seas soon followed our dismissal.

 

After this ceremony, my time in the pool, and another challenging team trivia, I decided it was time for a warm, quiet lunch in the main dining room. The main afternoon lecture was "Birds of the Southern Ocean". Today's theme movie was "The Philadelphia Story" but after 2 days away from tea time, I opted for that instead.

 

After a superb Chef's dinner, the evening's entertainment was Latin Guitarist Vincenzo Martinelli. His performance was excellent and I'm sure will be unforgettable for him as he is used to performing from a stage that stays in one place. Mr. Martinelli performed unaccompanied, and the Crystal Orchestra took advantage of that

situation to put on a jazz show in Luxe.

 

My parting shot tonight starts with Jay Wolff's presentation. As past societies have migrated through the Pacific establishing their civilizations, I am traveling the same ocean in a different way, and have just experienced a special ceremony derived from crossing an imaginary but important line. In 9 days, I will join the Queen Victoria on a part of it's World Cruise. In past weeks, it has gone ahead of me, crossing the same equator I crossed today, actually crossing in both directions on it's way from California to Sydney to Bangkok. I am fortunate this year to be a part of both their journey and the Symphony's. What a Wonderful World.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

King Neptune has not been cooperative today. This my first time on the Symphony that every entrance to the Promenade Deck has been roped off, so I started my morning in the fitness center with a half hour on the stationary bicycle.

 

The sea conditions have necessitated some changes to the day's activities. The ominous start came with Captain Zander's blunt daily update, including the caution "Do not use the outside decks", and there were no activities in the forward portion of the ship. The Crystal Visions Enrichment Program started off with a lecture by Louis Rene Beres on "Facing the Future: War, Law, and Justice in World Affairs", covering developments and options for dealing with evil in modern society. The Starlite Club was extremely busy as it went in rapid succession from Professor Beres (moved from the Galaxy Lounge due to the weather) to Jeremy Arnold speaking about the movie "Laura" to Bingo, Team Trivia, Jay Wolff speaking on "I

Shall Return: The Ballad of General McArthur" to finally Adam and Patricia teaching the Samba under trying conditions.

 

The Mozart Tea Time went on as scheduled in a new venue, the Crystal Dining Room. It was still a great experience, and the swirling seas just outside the dining room windows were quite a sight.

 

My very pleasant dinner tonight was in Silk Road, my first experience with the “Table for Eight Program”.

 

The Starlight Club also had a very busy evening. The scheduled production was "Route 66" but that was simply impossible, and Flutist Gary Arbuthnot was brought in as a replacement. Mr. Arbuthnot had a very busy night, performing at both 6:30 and 8:30 and also appearing in Liars Club with Jay Wolff and Mark Merchant.

 

For my parting shot tonight let me just mention how lucky we are in this storm to be on a ship which is roomy enough to allow us to congregate in midship areas without being overcrowded, and how fortunate we are that King Neptune's ceremony was yesterday rather than today.

 

Roy

[capnpugwash]

Interesting reading Roy, keep up the great work.

[rafinmd]

For the last 7 years I have been living on borrowed time. In 2003 I circled the world from West to East, and drew a day from the time bank. Today, that debt came due. I think we actually are geographically we are well past the dateline, but we just recognized it, perhaps to have a month without a 13th.

We are still dodging between Cyclone Thomas and another storm on the opposite side, but the seas have calmed down and the outer decks are open again. There was still a stiff headwind to fight while walking around the bow of the Symphony.

After our interdenominational service, the Crystal Visions Enrichment Program continued with a talk by Jay Wolff on "Piracy is Alive and Well", a very timely topic as the Crystal Serenity is getting ready to pass by Somalia, I will soon be boarding the Queen Victoria and passing through the Strait of Malacca, and the ship will pass near Somalia soon after I disembark. The Symphony will pass the same way in April and May.

The afternoon was relatively quiet, with a presentation by Tony Soper on whales and whaling, and a welcome return of tea time to it's rightful setting in Palm Court. Dinner at "Table for Eight" in Prego was superb, with 7 other guests I had not previously met on board, followed by an evening show with master magician Brett Sherwood. During the overnight hours we had a return visit from Cyclone Thomas, with a frequent feeling similar to that of turbulence in an airplane.

My parting shot today comes from Fr. Jim Melley's sermon in today's interdenominational service: We do not do good works to get to Heaven; we do good works because Heaven has come to us.

Roy

[rafinmd]

The theme for today is once again "Stormy Weather", not quite as rough as 2 days ago, but close. The outer decks were open and activities continued in Palm Court and the Galaxy Theater, but the front of the Promenade Deck was closed due to high winds and heavy spray. My "laps" became U-shaped around the after end of the deck; I might as well get started that way as that is what I expect on Queen Victoria.

 

The Crystal Visions Enrichment Program continued with a morning presentation with Jay Wolff "Aborigines and Explorers" preparing us for our arrival in Australia. Following the Asia Buffet, the afternoon was primarily devoted to the Film and Theater featuring West Side Story, but I took a little time off for relaxing and tea time.

 

After 2 nights in the specialty restaurants, we had a nearly full table in the main dining room with a special birthday celebration. One of our members has a grandson turning 1 on March 15, and since we are on this side of the International Dateline we took pictures of our celebration to be mailed back home in time for the local birthday celebration.

 

There was a very full evening of entertainment. Guitarist Vincenzo Martinelli gave an encore performance in the Starlight Club, followed by a variety show featuring out dance champions Adam and Patricia, Gary Arbuthnot on the flute, Ventriloquist Mark Merchant, Diva Dale Kristien, and Shirley Dominguez on the harp.

 

My parting shot today is more of a question. By the time we reach Sydney, we will have crossed the International Dateline, the Equator, the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, and of course a great Ocean, so my question is "what defines a cruise vs. a crossing?" A fellow passenger has suggested that any voyage that begins at one port and ends at another is a crossing. While that may be technically true, I have difficulty finding it helpful, and have great difficulty imagining a voyage from say New York to Montreal as a crossing. A few of my thoughts: A crossing typically starts at one great land mass and ends at another, with few stops in between, especially few stops where no passengers embark or disembark. A cruise tends to be centered on the intermediate stops, but not always, and the onboard experience. I think for me the most significant difference is in the motivation behind the voyage; for a crossing the starting and end points fulfilling a practical purpose, while the motivation for a cruise is the ports and the onboard experience. That could suggest that while some people are experiencing a crossing, others on the same voyage could be experiencing a cruise. When I booked this voyage, I had a defined destination suggesting a true crossing, but would book a voyage to Sydney when my destination was Bangkok only for an exceptional ship so my crossing concept does not quite apply.

 

Roy

[capnpugwash]

Roy, Interesting reading, well done. Shame about the weather. Re your Parting Shot, I think that there are Voyages and Cruises; You voyage from NYC to Montreal and Cruise from NYC to Bahamas and back to NYC. A crossing is an extended voyage, nothing like a cruise.

[rolfecms]

Could a crossing be more aptly considered a journey from one continent to another? Would that in and of itself imply a large body of water?

[rafinmd]

Thank you Captain Pugwash and rolfecms. Good points.

 

We finally seem to have left Cyclone Thomas behind us, with great walking conditions, and a few more laps with the Leki poles. It was a beautiful day out on deck, but also much to do inside the ship. In his morning announcement Captain Zander confirmed that we would arrive on time in Sydney. We have a critical time constraint to meet; since we dock at Circular Quay near the commuter ferry traffic, if we do not arrive at the pilot station by 5:30 we cannot dock until 9:30 after the rush hour. In the morning show CD Scott Peterson gave us a behind the scenes look at the Symphony in drydock. This brought back great memories of my November 2006 ACCL intercoastal waterway cruise, where we tide up in Norfolk directly opposite the Symphony in drydock. The ship was truly a majestic presence overlooking the harbor brightly lit up as work was in process 24 hours per day.

 

The Crystal Visions Enrichment Program continued in great form with Jay Wolff speaking in the morning on "Convicts and Gold Bugs" detailing the settling of Australia. While we always think of Australia as being settled by convicts, we do not usually think that this happened in part because the previous dumping ground, North America, had just gained it's independence. Professor Beres final lecture "Agony and Ecstasy: Berthing a New World Community" started the afternoon off. Brett Sherwood provided a fascinating look at his mastery of cards.

 

After our Captains Farewell party and final formal dinner, the Crystal Ensemble of Singers and Dancers returned after delays from the rough seas with a stunning "Curtain Call".

 

My last 2 parting shots for the Crystal portion of my journey will involve my future plans as they have evolved in the past 17 days. I clearly have a tendency to assemble my own journeys, and, as I mentioned in my day 2 post when changing trains in Chicago, I have 2 favorite cruise lines, but have not yet put them together in a single experience. In October 2011, I will board one of ACCL's ships as the start of a loop, sailing up the Hudson to the Erie Canal and St. Lawrence River to Quebec. After a few days with family in Montreal I will board the Symphony October 15 and continue out the St. Lawrence and around the Maritimes to New York. The Crystal portion of that journey is now confirmed.

 

Roy

[rolfecms]

Its always nice to plan another journey while enjoying a current adventure. Enjoy your last full day on the Symphony! :)

[rafinmd]

It was a beautiful morning for walking on deck. The Crystal Visions Enrichment Program came to a fine conclusion with Jay Wolff speaking in the morning on the exploration of outback Australia and Tony Soper in the afternoon on the many varieties of penguins in the world. The day ended fairly early with Route 66 as the Crystal Ensemble grand finale before dinner leaving time for packing fairly early in the evening.

 

As my parting shot today it is a bit bittersweet to leave the Symphony in the morning. I look forward to going on to Bangkok and exploring new ports from a new ship, but must prepare for a step down in service, which I still be to be excellent. I think stepping down to excellent service is a fair synopsis of the way we have been spoiled for the last 17 days. While I will leave the Symphony and Crystal behind for now, I will return (Serenity) in October and will be back on Symphony next October. While Symphony will be sailing to Auckland without me, there is now a Crystal voyage to Auckland (Serenity, January, from Tahiti) in my plans.

Keith's blog did help inspire me to consider this voyage, and "Save Now, Save Later" pretty much sealed the deal.

Roy

[rafinmd]

From the TV room internet at Lane Cove Tourist Park, I enjed a bit of nature. Spent the morning exploring Sydney, and then off to camp for the night. Enjoyed perfect weather and expect a nice morning before heading off to bangkok.

[Love Cruises]

Could a crossing be more aptly considered a journey from one continent to another? Would that in and of itself imply a large body of water?

I also always understood it to be a crossing from one continent to another.

 

But, it doesn't matter that much to us what it is called ... just as long as we are on any ship !

[Love Cruises]

Welcome back on line, Dan and Barb. It sounds like you're getting back to normal after your long adventure. You're right about my avitar. It was taken as I was disembarking in New Orleans. You'll probably get a good laugh from my "crime" in today's post (actually 2 posts today, we just got back satellite coverage).

 

For our first full day in the Southern Hemisphere, King Neptune was not very cooperative. My morning walk started well enough but was interrupted by rain after about an hour. I just managed to finish (including 5 laps with Nordic Poles) before Captain Zander's 9AM update. The regular at sea program kicked off for me at 10, with a lecture by Jay Wolff on "The Great Migration" discussed the ways we can trace the ancient origins of modern cultures with sometimes surprising results. For example, language studies suggest that the native Hawaiian language is closely related to early versions of Hebrew, suggesting a stronger relationship to that culture, rather than the more commonly assumed ties to Polynesia.

 

I normally think of Crystal activities as laid back, conservative, and intellectually stimulating. I saw a very different side of Crystal late this morning. I was one of about 30 polliwogs, initiated into the circle of those who have crossed the Equator by ship. The ceremony was held around the Seahorse pool on the Lido deck. With CD Scott Peterson presiding as King Neptune, we (in 4 separate groups), along with several crew members (grouped by department) were brought before King Neptune and charged with a crime. My group, for example, was "charged" with carrying a Holland America tote bag around the ship. All were convicted, and sentenced to be "slimed" with colored whipped cream, had to kiss a large fish, and were cut up with fake saw and scissors and were tossed in the pool. After the last of the accused were sentenced, Captain Zander complained that the messy ceremony was a violation of the "Crystal Clean" policy, and he was promptly charged with interference with the ceremony and joined us in the pool, a slimy mess. CD Peterson seemed to be in command of King Neptune; the weather held for the duration of the ceremony, but started raining heavily soon afterwards, and near gale winds and heavy seas soon followed our dismissal.

 

After this ceremony, my time in the pool, and another challenging team trivia, I decided it was time for a warm, quiet lunch in the main dining room. The main afternoon lecture was "Birds of the Southern Ocean". Today's theme movie was "The Philadelphia Story" but after 2 days away from tea time, I opted for that instead.

 

After a superb Chef's dinner, the evening's entertainment was Latin Guitarist Vincenzo Martinelli. His performance was excellent and I'm sure will be unforgettable for him as he is used to performing from a stage that stays in one place. Mr. Martinelli performed unaccompanied, and the Crystal Orchestra took advantage of that

situation to put on a jazz show in Luxe.

 

My parting shot tonight starts with Jay Wolff's presentation. As past societies have migrated through the Pacific establishing their civilizations, I am traveling the same ocean in a different way, and have just experienced a special ceremony derived from crossing an imaginary but important line. In 9 days, I will join the Queen Victoria on a part of it's World Cruise. In past weeks, it has gone ahead of me, crossing the same equator I crossed today, actually crossing in both directions on it's way from California to Sydney to Bangkok. I am fortunate this year to be a part of both their journey and the Symphony's. What a Wonderful World.

 

Roy

Roy ... no longer a polliwog ... good for you ! I always enjoy the King Neptune ceremony but have never seen the Capt. thrown into the pool. That had to be really funny.

 

Shame on whoever had a HAL tote bag. I know one time when Dan and I went on HAL, Dan admonished me for carrying my beautiful Crystal tote that I absolutely loved.

 

Can I say again how much I look forward to your blog ? THANKS SO MUCH FOR SHARING YOUR ADVENTURE WITH US!

[rafinmd]

The night in Lane Cove River Tourist Park was very quiet, with perfect weather except for a heavy dew delaying my departure while the tent dried out until just after 10AM. Despite being in a National Park, the campground is quite developed and there was little wildlife with the exception of a few very colorful birds.

 

After leaving Lane Cove River I explored the area between Sydney Central Station and Circular Quay on foot. Circular Quay looked pretty empty without the Symphony in it's berth. I went to the airport about 2 and began the LONG flight to Bangkok at 6. It was 9 hours but we had a 4 hour time gain, making our arrival just after 11.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

The "day" sort of starts with my arrival at the Four Seasons Bangkok, since that was about 12:30am. This is my most elegant accommodation of the trip, about the equivalent of the Crystal Penthouse or a Queens Grill Suite on the Queen Victoria, very impressive. My all-too-soon wakeup call came at 6, as my day touring started at 7:30. Opal and his driver Mr. Yo whisked me off to the Grand Palace and Emerald Buddha. I had booked morning and afternoon group tours, but it turned out I was the only one in the group. The Grand Palace was originally built about 1760 when the King moved the seat of government across the river and has served 9 monarchs since then.

We also saw the Royal Guest Residence which has been visited by Queen Elizabeth II and by Presidents Bush and Clinton. The complex has been expanded regularly over the years and also holds several

temples, most notably the temple of the Emerald Buddha. It is an extremely ornate place, which is prominently used both as a tourist site and an active place of prayer.

 

During the break for lunch at the hotel, I also met with the Cunard Hospitality Desk and arranged a transfer to the pier. It is about a 2-hour drive to Laem Chebang, but there will be a period of sightseeing as well.

 

The afternoon tour was mostly by boat on the main river of Thailand and the canal system. The boat was like a long canoe, about 40 feet long and wide enough for 3 people to a bench. We went about a mile up the river and then through some canals for about 20 minutes. The river is heavily used in barge commerce, but not sufficient to support ship traffic. The canals are much smaller, about 100 feet wide, with several interconnecting waterways and some smaller feeder waterways. Many of the houses appeared to have only canal access, and a number of children were swimming in the canals, although the water did not look very clean. When we returned to the river we stopped at a landing across the river from the Grand Palace, at the site where the Palace had originally stood, and where there are a number of temples. We entered the Temple of Dawn, which is a very beautiful tourist site and also a very active place of prayer. An older temple had exterior steps leading up to a landing 76 meters above the ground with excellent views of the city.

 

We had been warned that there would be demonstrations in Bangkok this weekend. On my afternoon walk I encountered a couple parades of "red shirts" passing in the street. They formed quite a noisy procession of cars and motorcycles, with a number of spectators cheering from the sidewalk, but they caused no apparent problems.

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After breakfast in the hotel and a short walk my bus left the hotel about 9AM. Paul took us to several stops, starting with a walk around the flower market just outside of Chinatown, Along with a large assortment of beautiful flowers we passed a number of vegetable stands and a number of very primitive looking food stands/cafes. I then got a repeat visit to the beautiful Grand Palace and Temple of the Emerald Buddha. One thing I learned on this visit is that this shrine is the Buddhist equivalent of Mecca in that all Buddhists aspire to visit the shrine sometime in their lives. We had the inevitable shopping stop at a handicraft place, with the main item being gems, and made an optional lunch stop at a local hotel. We arrived at the dock about 2:50 and I was on board Queen Victoria about 3:00. I had been concerned about my luggage since I had put it outside my hotel door by 7, and most had been collected before 8 but mine was still outside the door at 8:30. When I arrived at my cabin, it was in fact sitting on my bed. I am on deck at the aft of the ship, 5 decks above the dining room, one deck below the Lido Restaurant, and 5-7 decks above and the opposite end of the ship from the Royal Court theater. I will get in plenty of stair climbing on this voyage. My budget cabin is in prestigious surroundings with all Grill and Penthouse suites in the cabins behind me.

 

After exploring the ship a bit and a brief stop at afternoon tea, we had the inevitable muster drill, with a bit of a surprise. This is the first time I have not been sent to my muster station for the drill. We were sent to the Queens Room, apparently because so few passengers got on in Bangkok.

 

At the early seating I found the restaurant less elegant than expected. This may have been an impression clouded by my recent time on the Crystal Symphony, but I thought I remembered the Britannia Dining room on QM2 being much more elegant. In any case, the food was excellent. The Royal Court Theater made a great impression. It is 3 decks tall, and reminiscent of classic opera house design, very beautiful. The featured evening entertainment was a superb clarinet performance by Kenny ******.

 

For my parting shot, I'll simply review my overall travels. My first voyage on the Crystal Symphony was about 7500 miles in 17 days. My next voyage on the Queen Victoria will be 5000 miles in 15 days. In between, I had a trip of 4500 miles in 9 hours. Air travel is often a necessity in today's world, which is really a shame. The life on a wonderful ship is impossible to beat.

 

Roy

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My usual morning walk got off to an early start with a few complications. The Queen Victoria unfortunately does not share the lovely wraparound Promenade Deck of the Crystal ships or the even better one of the QM2. The deck there is starts near the forward end of the ship outside the Royal Court Theater and runs around the back of the deck outside the upper Britannia Restaurant and ends on near the Royal Court Theater entrance on the opposite side of the ship. The total one-way walk around the U is 1/3 mile, where we retrace our steps in the opposite direction. The deck is plastic rather than teak, much less appealing (although apparently easier to keep clean with few hoses out washing it down to dodge in the early morning) and pretty much recessed into the body of the ship, usually under the lifeboats. The big problem with walking this morning was that the deck was roped off about 6:30 to lower the boats as tenders for our stop at Koh Samui.

 

This small Thai island (about 10 miles square, population 30,000) has no significant dock, and we anchored about 2 1/2 miles from the harbor, so my first-ever Cunard port call was a tendering stop. My "Around the Island" tour had been listed as a 9:30 start but we were told to be in the Queens Room at 8:30. We did not actually leave the Queens Room until nearly 9:30, and it was just after 10 when we boarded our busses. On our tour we made 4 stops. The first was a Buddhist shrine with 2 buildings. One was a temple containing the body of a beloved monk. Somehow, his body had not decomposed on his death, and he was placed in a glass coffin in a seated position. The second building was closed when we arrived but was a beautiful temple where new monks are ordained. Our second stop, a very short ride later was a coconut plantation. We learned that the work of harvesting coconuts is done by Macaque monkeys. They are trained to recognize coconuts ready for harvesting, and when they climb the trees to reach the coconuts they twirl them repeatedly until the stem breaks and they fall to the ground. Periodically they come back to the ground and place the fallen coconuts in boxes, each monkey harvesting about 800 coconuts per day for a working life of about 10 years followed by about 20 years of retirement. The monkeys become very close to their masters and eat with the family. We were also given a demonstration of the extraction of coconut juice and coconut milk.

 

After a longer ride we came to the shrine of the Big Buddha. This massive golden sculpture sits on a hill overlooking the ocean on a platform elevated about 50 feet up a stairway. This Buddha is probably 50 feet high, and there are about 20 bells situated around the platform. Ringing all 20 bells is supposed to be good luck.

 

Our final stop was for lunch at the Chaweng Resort Hotel. We had a beautiful buffet lunch in a beautiful outdoor pavilion overlooking the beach, with about 90 minutes afterwards to use the beach, sit around the pool, or stroll the quaint town. We returned to the tenders about 4:30, making just about enough time to get ready for dinner. The travel documents had listed this as a semi formal evening, but the Daily Programme announced it would be Tropical Casual, a welcome change in the tropics with high humidity and a temperature of about 90F. It was also my first dinner ever on a Cunard ship without a jacket expected. The evening's entertainment was vocalist and former star search winner Kenny James, followed by a tropical pool party on deck. The evening also marks a bit of an oddessy. On this generally Westbound Cruise, we are jogging a bit east along the Malay Peninsula towards Singapore, and must move our clocks forward tonight. While this is a temporary inconvenience, it means we will get one extra chance later for an extra hour of sleep.

 

For today's parting shot, today's port call in Koh Samui could be easily overshadowed by the wonders of Bangkok or Sydney. It is often the small, out of the way ports that can make cruising really special. Today I experienced a place with wonders that most people will never get to see.

 

Roy